The Cat Requests A Favour
by ice73
Summary: Years after the the movie, Baron Humbert von Jikkingen visits Haru Yoshioka and gives her an invitation to a very special event before setting off on an adventure of his own . . . .
1. Prologue: The Cat Requests A Favour

**Disclaimer**: _Neko no Ongaeshi/ Mimi wo Sumaseba_ © Aoi Hiiragi/ Shuueisha/ Nibariki/ THNG/ Tokuma Shoten/ NTV/ Studio Ghibli. This work is not intended for commercial gain or to infringe on any of these copyrights.

**Author's Note:** My first The Cat Returns fanfiction. To be changed as the parent story evolves.

**Summary:** Years after the movie, Baron Humbert von Jikkingen pays a visit to Haru Yoshioka and gives her an invitation to a very special event before setting off on an adventure of his own...

* * *

THE CAT REQUESTS A FAVOUR

"And so, Miss Yoshioka, if you would do us the honor . . . ." The two-foot-odd-tall cat on the balcony deck, wearing the natty gray Evening Coat and standing on only two legs, bowed.

"Would I? Of course I would! And please, Baron, it's Haru, remember?" The girl with the ponytailed brown hair and oversized yellow _neko-neko_ pajamas impulsively reached down and gathered the being up in a suffocating hug. "I've missed you so!" she squealed.

"Please, Haru," the visitor protested, trying to give himself some breathing space by pushing himself away from her. "You're crushing me . . . ."

"Sorry." Haru let go of Baron Humbert von Jikkingen, who lightly jumped onto the balcony railing behind him. He tried to recover what he could of his composure, as he smoothed his clothing and batted his top hat against his forearm.

"Is Muta coming?" asked Haru. "Can I bring along a friend or two?"

"You mean Miss Hiromi, her boyfriend Tsuge and your own . . . what was his name again, Machida? I guess that wouldn't be out of line."

Haru's face did its best impression of a ripe tomato. "Oh, so you know about him? But . . . how?"

"Every cat has its own secret, Haru," Baron replied, smiling at her. To satisfy her curiosity, he revealed, "Muta passes by this house sometimes, when he has nothing else to do. So does Toto, when he roams this town at night."

"You mean you're spying on me?" Haru asked indignantly. "Baron, how could you?"

"We of the Cat Business Office are always interested in the doings of those whom we have helped," von Jikkingen replied with admirable equanimity. "Also," he added with a small smile, "it's hard to see two young people, one sneaking up on a ladder to the other's balcony in the dead of night and then kissing her, and not come to the conclusion that there are romantic relations between them . . . ."

"Oh, fine, be that way, smug-face." Haru sat back on the lone chair in her balcony and held up the engraved silver invitation Baron had given her. "I'll come. And maybe I'll bring the others along too. But Baron, what's the reason for giving this to me so far in advance? I mean, it's just the beginning of summer, and this is for Christmas."

"There are a lot of things going on, and I've given this to you now so you can prepare. Also, I'll be away for the next month or two, so I thought it would be better if I played it safe."

"Eh? You're going away?"

"Yes. I'm searching for someone very important to me. She's also invited to the party." As he said it Haru got the impression that the subject matter was an intensely personal one for the Cat, and a sad one to boot.

The young lady suddenly sat upright in the chair. "Oh, where are my manners? Would you like a cup of tea? Some rice cakes, perhaps?"

Baron bestirred himself from his melancholy. "That would be fine, and thank you."

The twenty-year-old stood up. "Wait for me. I won't be long. I hope you don't mind drinking Haru's special blend," she called as she disappeared into her room, which was on the second floor of her house.

"Not at all," Baron called after her. "I'm sure it'll taste great." Before she went downstairs she switched her radio on, to keep Baron entertained.

_"And now for that requested song by Ayano Tsuji,"_ came the DJ's voice. _"Here is 'Kaze ni Naru.'"_ A jangly ukelele started playing, and a lilting voice followed soon afterwards. Haru's nighttime visitor took to reading the newspaper she had dropped on the balcony deck the first time she laid eyes on him that evening. _Death Toll in London Bombing Rises,_ the headline read. _Investigation Continues._

"Oh, those poor people," Baron commiserated after reading the article. Life was indeed an unsure thing, and love even more so. _Louise . . . Shizuku . . ._ he thought with sadness.

A little later Haru came back bearing a tray with two teacups, a platter of small white cakes and a saucer with _shoyu_-based dipping sauce. "Sorry for the delay. I accidentally woke my mother and she asked why I was up and who I was talking to."

"Oh?" Baron removed his gloves and wiped his fingers on one of the provided napkins before taking a cup and a cake. "Is everything alright, then?"

"Yeah. I told her I was just hungry and that she was probably dreaming everything else. She's asleep again in her chair downstairs."

"Mmm, this smells heavenly," the Cat said, and took a bite out of the cake. When he had finished it he remarked, "It's so very nice to see you again, Haru. You've grown more beautiful over the years."

If blushes were perilous to one's health Mrs. Yoshioka's only child would have died on the spot from the repeated and prolonged outbreaks. "T-thank you," she stammered. An additional response seemed required, and, flustered and for want of anything better to say, she added, "As you can tell, I'm happy to see you too." For the next few minutes they chatted amiably on her balcony, and her attention was drawn more and more frequently to that fateful road in front of her house, until she asked, "Baron, how far is it from New Tama Hills to Koganei?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I'd like to know how long I'm going to have to spend on the 'bus with those _tanuki_ before I reach the studio."

To Haru's surprise, Baron actually laughed. Hard. "Don't worry about that," he said, chortling. "You'll have King Lune and Queen Yuki with you. And when you ride the wind," he added cryptically, "time passes by like nothing at all."


	2. The Cat Leaves

**Disclaimer**: _Neko no Ongaeshi/ Mimi wo Sumaseba_ © Aoi Hiiragi/ Shuueisha/ Nibariki/ THNG/ Tokuma Shoten/ NTV/ Studio Ghibli. This work is not intended for commercial gain or to infringe on any of these copyrights.

**Author's Note**: Today is July 15, 2005. Ten years ago, on this very day, Shizuku Tsukishima, Seiji Amasawa and the rest of the cast of _Whisper of the Heart_ were first given life on the silver screen by Studio Ghibli. Hence today is also when I release another part of this story, since they are one-half of it. Please note that I never planned to extend the vignette in the first place (having just finished a major Ghibli crossover), but I was swayed by the few reviews I got. I also found writing this necessary to the parent story all this is eventually going to merge with, and integrating Haru and Shizuku's realities (one has a 'real' Baron, the other has an 'imaginary' Baron—how do you reconcile this without upsetting each world too much?) piqued my interest. I hope Hiiragi-sensei will forgive me, if this crud ever comes to her attention.

Some notes before the whole thing starts rolling:

1) Since it was never explicitly stated when _Mimi wo Sumaseba_ or _Neko no Ongaeshi _happened, I took the liberty of dating their characters according to the years of their movie release (not the manga). Thus Shizuku Tsukishima, who was fourteen years old in 1995, is now 24/25; and Haru Yoshioka, who was seventeen in 2002, is now 19/20. Baron... don't even ask. Since he existed pre-World War II he must be at least sixty-six years old by now.

2) I have freely blended elements of the _Mimi_ manga and movie, slightly adjusting things to account for the passing of time and to accommodate Muta and Moon and Luna, all in the same world. I'm wondering at the wisdom of even trying to do that.

3) Alas, I haven't read _Shiawase no Jikan_, _Mimi's_ manga sequel, so this is an AU continuation of _Mimi_ until I find a copy and incorporate it too.

4) If anyone knows Machida's first name, could you tell me what it is? Otherwise I'll just have to make one up. And because I'm a guy, this will have more of a Cat Returns action-fantasy feel than _Whisper of the Heart's_ delicate interplay of romance and discovery. I'm too clumsy to ever imitate Hiiragi-sensei's light touch.

* * *

THE CAT LEAVES

It was half past eleven o' clock in the evening when the Baron returned to the Cat Business Office. Waiting for him was Muta, his partner. Fat, large and currently somnolent due to the very recent intake of a massive amount of various foodstuffs, the cream-colored cat with the dark brown ear looked up from his newspaper as Baron flung the double doors of the Business Office open.

Muta raised an eyebrow and his sleepiness departed. "Something bothering you?"

The Cat removed his top hat and coat, deftly tossing one onto a prong of the nearby hat stand and hanging the other in the clothes cabinet before speaking.

"Yes. For Heaven's sake, Muta, I told you I shouldn't be the one to deliver the invitation. Seeing Haru again after all this time has–"

"Upset you," the fat cat completed for him.

"Well, yes, but not in the way you're thinking." The Baron turned around and looked out through the window at Toto the crow's stone pillar in the center of the cul-de-sac where their abode was located. The surrounding buildings' lamps and lights were also on, giving the impression that the place was an old-world European jewel hidden twinkling in the midst of some anonymous town in a nameless, timeless world. "Still no word?"

"Baron," Muta said dryly, "you left just a couple of hours ago. Of course there's been no word yet. Relax. Have some _apfelstrudel_. I saved you some, along with that Devonshire clotted cream you like."

With a sigh Baron turned and headed for the cupboard. "Muta, I swear no one else thinks about food as much as you do."

"Hey, I've got a big body to look after," Muta protested. "And since those humans are so stingy . . . ."

"I know." The Cat Baron reached into a drawer and brought out a saucer and fork. "That's why you have several households taking care of you."

Muta smiled. He was very proud of the fact. It was while traveling to one—Chikyuuya, the shop owned by Seiji Amasawa's grandfather Nishi—that he first met Shizuku Tsukishima. Oh, he didn't talk to the then-junior-high-schooler. In fact, he didn't talk at all. But she followed him to the shop, and so was introduced to the Baron. And the rest was history, as they say; romance bloomed under an August sun, and a hilltop and a sunrise bore mute witness to its declaration.

Baron, now holding a saucer with a piece of the thin-crusted pastry heaped high with a pinkish-golden cream, sat down on the couch beside him. "You should've seen her," he said.

"Seen who?"

"Haru. Less the girl, more the woman these days. Very pretty."

"I know that," Muta commented. "I see her more than you do. The way she carries on with that boyfriend of hers . . . ."

"Kei. Kei Machida."

"Whatever." Muta flapped the newspaper open and started to read again. "I hope she doesn't let it interfere too much with her studies."

"Oh? And since when did you take an interest in her welfare, Muta?"

"Hey, I don't want all my pains rescuing her in the Cat Kingdom wasted. It's a good thing that daft Cat King is gone, and that Lune is King now." He flipped the newspaper page with more violence than seemed necessary. "Might make the place more tolerable to visit next time," he muttered.

"Ah, well. To be young and in love . . . since when did a victim of Cupid's arrows ever think logically?" Baron asked, scooping up a forkful of pastry and nibbling at it.

"Baron?" said Muta from behind the gray newsprint.

"Yes?"

"We _are_ still talking about Haru, aren't we?"

"Eh?"

There was a pause. "It's been a lifetime since Nishi-san brought you to Chikyuuya. I don't want to burst your bubble, but the rumor that Toto brought back was probably just that. A rumor."

Baron considered. "No. I'd know if the Baroness was . . . gone. And as long as there's a chance that she's still out there, still in the clutches of that evil Doctor . . . I'll travel to the ends of the earth to rescue her." Nishi-san had told Shizuku Baron was a reminder of his past, and that the figurine paired with him—the Baroness Louise—went out for repairs and never came back, like the woman Nishi had arranged to meet after the war but never did. In Shizuku's brief idyll with Baron he had told her that Louise had been kidnapped by an enigmatic cat riding a mechanical beetle. Little did she know that that had happened after she had been sent out for repairs, which explained why she never came back. The intercession of war was Nishi-san's explanation for Louise's loss, but the Cat knew better; how could the old man know what had really happened, anyway?

Baron looked for her as much as he could. In the dead of night he made his way out of the shop and searched far and wide, learning a few things along the way. But he came close to Louise and her captor only once. The momentary glimpse of her face he had had then, pleading and full of despair, haunted his dreams ever afterward, and he never stopped trying to find her. It seemed for a long time, however, that the Baroness had fallen off the face of the earth, and von Jikkingen never had news of her.

One balmy April evening, however, just after the cherry blossoms had started to bloom in Tokyo, Toto came back with a rumor. The crow who also turned into a statue hopped into the open upper window of the Office and reported, "Baron, you're not going to believe what I heard." Then he proceeded to give him some information that suddenly complicated his life, by orders of magnitude.

Louise had been found. Or at least someone had admitted knowing where she was.

On receiving that information the Cat had changed. He was still as suave and debonair as ever, yet Muta now sensed a _soupçon_ of tension and urgency underlining his actions.

Muta cleared his throat to break the uncomfortable silence that had descended between him and the Cat. "So, did you tell her about Louise?"

"Yes." Baron smiled ruefully. "She has a very strong woman's intuition," he admitted, "and actually wormed it out of me."

"Hah! Another point in her favor," Muta chuckled. "What did she say when she learned about the Baroness?"

"Oh, nothing much." He wasn't about to tell Muta that Haru had said, with a perfectly straight face but with a hint of her old crush on him still in her eyes, "Oh, that's very understandable. What woman wouldn't fall in love with you, Humbert von Jikkingen? You're kind, courteous, handsome . . . ."

It had been the Baron's turn to blush then. He told Haru he had never been a playboy, and never aspired to be one. Each woman he met, he declared, bore some trace of the Baroness in them: even Haru did that evening, he claimed, despite her unruly brown hair, oversized sleepwear, and loose anklet _tabi_ socks; for she had a winsome smile, and her eyes were alight with love. And, so reminded of Louise each time, she was never far from Baron's heart, or his memory. The conversation had dried up then at his solemn pronouncement, and Baron excused himself and told her that he had to go. So saying, he did something that surprised Haru: he pressed his index finger to his lips and gently touched it against her own, quietly thanking her for the compliment. Then he promptly jumped off the balcony, landed on the lawn and bowed to her, running off and vanishing into the silent spaces of the night like an apparition, leaving the second-year college student's heart filled with a turbulent mixture of wonder and sadness at his words.

Baron finished the last of his meal and washed up. As the darkness deepened, and as shadowy figures walked to and fro in the square outside, he busied himself filling a carpetbag with needful things. If his avian friend could obtain the right kind of information, he was going to leave right away.

------oOo------

Toto arrived early in the wee hours of the morning, a noiseless black shadow borne on the wings of the night. The Norse god Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin, Thought and Memory, served their master by flying around and gathering news, then coming back and whispering it into his ears; nowadays Toto and his friends served much the same purpose for the Cat Business Office. Over the years they had learned that humans tended to dismiss a bird hopping around their vicinity more easily than they did a stray cat. And also in their favor was the fact that Corvidae were less vulnerable to dangers such as boys with slingshots, dogs, vehicles on the road, and similar city hazards than cats were.

Muta woke the Baron up. He had been sleeping in the window display again, in his statue form.

"What've you got, Toto?" he asked instantly, stretching his limbs and resisting the urge to rub the cobwebs out of his eyes.

"You're not going to like the first bit," the crow hedged, looking sideways at him from the upper floor of the Office.

"Never mind about that, just give it to me."

"Yeah, chicken wings, just give it to him," Muta said, suppressing a yawn. "Keeping me awake like this . . . ."

"Shizuku is missing."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"Shizuku Amasawa is not at her New Tama Hills address. I already knew this but waited to see if I could discover her whereabouts before telling you. Alas, I could not."

"Then what about Chikyuuya?"

"Sold to a different owner, who has no idea where Seiji and Shizuku are currently." The crow shrugged his wings. "They're on vacation. Besides, you know how newlyweds are." Toto cleared his throat and looked embarrassed. "I'd have poked around some more, but I had to mediate a dispute between a flock of pigeons and a couple of crows."

The Baron cursed silently. "Now how am I supposed to get the invitation to her?" he wondered. To fail his commission would be no small stain on his honor.

"Hey, how'd you get that information?" Muta challenged the crow.

Toto gave the large cat a look he normally reserved for the especially feeble-minded. "Are you referring to the proprietor? I talked to him, of course."

"You _what?_" The shout almost shattered the windows of the Cat Business Office.

"I asked him politely if he knew where the previous owner had gone to," the crow replied. "Of course, if he tells anyone he met a talking crow he'll just get laughed at."

"Darn," Muta grumbled. "Now I have to find another sucker who'll take me in and feed me."

"Don't," Toto countered. "The diet will do you good."

"Who asked you, black-face?"

"I'm telling you this for your own good, belly-brain."

"Says you."

"Says I indeed!"

Muta's eyes narrowed. "How about I eat you instead?"

"Ah-ah-ah. Stone isn't particularly digestible, you know."

"Who cares? My stomach needs some gastroliths anyway."

"Well, then, catch me if you can, you great big dumb cat."

"Why you–" Muta shot off the couch with the ponderous grace of an offended leviathan and prepared to spring at Toto.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Baron exclaimed placatingly, waving a hand. "You can beat each other silly later." He looked up at Toto. "What else have you found out?"

"I've traced the source of the news about the Baroness to the castle of the renegade King of the Lonely Isles."

"The Lonely Isles?" Muta said. "Huh. Baron, that's no place for you to go." Everybody knew the foggy islands some miles off the coast of the Cat Kingdom were the haven of a bunch of pirates, smugglers and thieves, not to mention full of unmapped shoals, sandbars and rock outcroppings that made navigation thereabouts dangerous.

"Indeed." Von Jikkingen gave it some thought. "The Cat Kingdom nominally owns the Lonely Isles and keeps a garrison there. I must consult with King Lune. Maybe he can help me."

"Aw, do we really have to go there?" groused Muta.

"What's the matter, fatso?" Toto jeered. "Scared?"

"No, it's just that I hate dog food. King Lune keeps a fine table, but they say the Pirate King Phaecis' eats are to die for—literally."

"You won't have to worry about that, Muta," said Baron, "because you're not coming with me."

"What?"

"You heard me right. You're not coming with me. I need someone to mind the store while I'm away, and Toto simply can't handle everything by himself."

Muta looked askance at his friend. "Geez, Baron, are you sure? I was looking forward to knocking some dogs' heads together."

"Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Thank you, Toto. I'll need you to take me to the bus station first thing tomorrow."

"The bus station? Where are you going, Baron? You don't get into the Cat Kingdom by bus."

"I'm not going there directly. My first stop is Chikyuuya, then Shizuku and Seiji's old homes. But I want you to keep investigating," he added.

"Understood," affirmed the crow, hopping around until he faced the open window. "I'm going to catch some shut-eye. And Muta, if I catch you painting my pedestal with grease again . . . ."

The fat cat adopted an innocent look. "Who? Little harmless ol' me?"

The crow turned a disdainful look in Muta's direction. "Heh. Wrong on both counts. 'Little' you're not, and you're just about as harmless as a cow with BSE, _Buta._" Then, before the large feline could give a rejoinder, Toto was out the window in a flash, flying the short distance to his post and settling in for the night.

Baron imagined the steam rising off Muta's head. His partner's shoulders were shaking as he rumbled, "Call me a pig, will you? I'll get even with you next time, you garbage-can raider." Then he turned for the cupboard. "Next time I'm painting your pedestal with glue, not grease." He opened a cabinet. "Hey Baron, can I help myself to some of your tea?"

------oOo------

It was the middle of the day, but the small street in front of the Earth Shop was devoid of people. Baron stood a while looking over his old homestead, noting the place in the window where he used to stand unmoving, day after day, till Nishi-san lost him. Yes, lost him, because of a break-in and robbery. Baron had been sold by the thieves to an establishment which also specialized in antiques like him—it was a rich, luxuriant affair occupied by a childless, mercenary, and unhappy couple whose sole purpose for obtaining the figurine had been to resell him at a higher price—but he never liked it there, so after a week or two he conveniently got himself chipped and torn (it was just his jacket and cane, one ripped in three places, the other broken in two, both items easily replaced) and thrown out with the rest of the garbage. From there it was a straightforward process to find Muta again, and thence a quick hop, skip and jump to the Cat Business Office, where he lived presently.

Baron never got around to visiting Chikyuuya until now. He disliked the thought of seeing Nishi-san, who so obviously cherished him and Louise both, old and sick. And mortal. And the little girl who had been his and Seiji's visitor and Baron's story-writer, who had purchased the spectacles out of embarrassment... well, she grew up and forgot about him, as humans are wont to do with their childhood fantasies and dreams. At least she was still, he knew, working on becoming a good writer.

He spied someone walking around inside. Looking closer, he realized it was Kouji, Seiji's older brother. Was he the new owner of Chikyuuya? If so, why didn't he know where the couple had gone? Bracing himself to deal with the usual human hysteria that usually greeted the appearance of a talking cat, Baron adjusted the bow tie on his tan Morning Coat, took a deep breath, and knocked thrice firmly on the door with his cane.

------oOo------

"I really have no idea where they are now," said fair-haired, eyeglass-wearing Kouji Amasawa. "When my younger brother married he wanted to sell the shop so he and Shizuku could set up house—not that they really needed the money, but he didn't like hanging around here ever since our grandfather passed away. Too many memories, he said. But I wanted to keep _ojii-san's_ legacy within our family, so I bought it from him, telling him to go use the money to treat Shizuku to a vacation. Goodness knows she needed one after being so busy with her children's books." He shifted in his seat. "Seiji said he was going to take her to tour Italy. That was the last I heard of them."

"I see." Baron jumped off the table he had been standing on and landed on the age-worn floor. "Well, thank you for your time, Amasawa-san."

"No problem, Baron. To tell you the truth I've been worrying about them ever since they left three weeks ago." Kouji stood up from his rickety old seat and bowed. "Thanks. Do drop by whenever you have the time. Ah, but I won't be here. An old lady, Mrs. Yamaguchi, will be here in my place once I get this shop up and running again."

"I will," promised Baron. "And I'd appreciate it if you kept me and my friend the crow a secret."

"As long as you're a friend of Shizuku's, my lips are sealed. Besides," said Kouji with a shake of his head, "who'd believe me?" He pursed his lips. "But if you should happen to know a few others like you who'd be willing to stay here and liven up the place, put in a good word for me, would you?"

------oOo------

Same thing happened when Baron went to Shizuku's parents' house: her mother and father weren't there, but her older sister Shiho was. And the last she had heard from her _imouto-chan_ was an email Shizuku sent, saying that Cremona was beautiful and the people Seiji introduced her to were very friendly and funny. After that, nothing.

Baron afterwards spent some of the afternoon in a nearby park, pondering over what to do. As he sat there concealed in a copse of trees, writing down his findings in a small notebook he had carried along with him in the carpetbag, a raccoon dog passed by. Baron watched it scurrying around looking for food for a while, then hailed it and begged a favor. It turned out to be one of the non-shapechanging cousins of Shoukichi the _tanuki_, whom Baron had crossed paths with before while on a case; could he, perchance, give this to the shape-changer, to mail back to the Cat Business Office? He himself had neither the time nor patience to do so. The raccoon dog was hesitant, but the addition of a free three-layer cucumber-and-cold-cut-turkey sandwich sealed the deal. Baron finished his epistle while the _tanuki_ scarfed down his windfall of a lunch; then the Cat tore out the pages, wrapped them in another piece of paper and scribbled the address of the Cat Business Office, along with a few words for Shoukichi, on the outside. The _tanuki_ then took the missive and scampered off into the park, heading for a nearby golf course in the general direction of Tama New Town.

Baron watched the brown-furred animal go. _I hope it's able to deliver my letter. The information would help Toto a great deal._ He fervently wished the canid wouldn't get run over by a car or the like, as Shoukichi and his kin had more than their fair share of problems to deal with. Like being endangered, for example.

When the animal was completely out of Baron's sight he dug out his watch fob and looked at the time. Goodness! He had to hurry to get to a 'bus station, otherwise, with Toto busy hunting down Shizuku's whereabouts, he'd miss the only other easily accessible way into the Cat Kingdom. He gathered up his things and ran out of the copse, caring little about the danger of anyone seeing him. People were usually too busy and blinded by their humdrum everyday world to take much notice of him anyway. If they did see him, they would chalk his presence up to some incredible special effects, or a local store's advertising gimmick, or that last jigger of _sake_ that they had, or the noonday heat. He sometimes couldn't believe how dense humans were.


	3. The Nekobus Kitty

**Author's Note:** It's July 19. You didn't think I'd let _Neko no Ongaeshi's_ initial showing date in Japan slip by without commemorating it, did you?

_Ellenlome_ and _MistyStarlight_, thank you for your kind words. However, I am sorry to say that in exchange for such compliments, I have to give you (and everyone else) some bad news: the rating has just gone up starting from this chapter, for safety's sake.

Today's bit of trivia: (thank you Team Ghiblink)

_Q: Is there a model for Baron?_

_Yes. He was modeled after the cat statuette Ms. Hiiragi owns. She fell in love with it the moment she saw it, but she couldn't afford it then. Since she wanted it so badly, she later returned to the shop, only to find that it had already been sold. However, it turned out that it was her boyfriend who bought it (as her birthday present). And he is now her husband._

And, on that sweet note, off to the story:

* * *

THE NEKOBUS KITTY

The late afternoon sun found one statuette-like cat waiting patiently on the corner of two small streets on the borders of Tama New Town. Several people passed him by, noting his elegantly-dressed presence as a very curious oddity but nothing more. They had much more important things to think about, like cooking dinner once they got home, or schoolwork, or the latest crush or fad. One teenager, fascinated, tried to pick him up, but it took just one severe glance from the being to warn him away. Other than that hiccup in the flow of things, everything on that street corner was placid and peaceful.

Which suited Baron von Jikkingen just fine. It had taken him half an hour to hurry all the way here, but it seemed things were falling in his favor today. The 'bus was late.

He had been waiting twenty minutes already and was wondering what could possibly have happened to his ride when a large object burst through the foliage of a nearby tree on his right. _Ah,_ he told himself. _There it is._

The thing looked like a whimsical mixture of cat and bus. With eight legs, an open-windowed bus body, and a cat's head for a hood and mouse-shaped body lights, the Nekobus was a well-known mode of transportation for people such as Baron—and the rare human, usually a child, who could see it and was allowed to ride in it.

Baron observed that this 'bus wasn't the regular one that plied this route. Instead of being colored orange with black stripes, it had pale white fur and light blue stripes, along with a royal-blue belly. It also had fewer legs than the orange Nekobus. And, being in sync with the more practical times, it also had advertisements hanging on its sides. The one Baron could see was promoting the Museum and the movie "Howl's Moving Castle". From prior experience Baron knew this incarnation was a day model; the orange Nekobus usually operated around sunset to sunrise only (except for special trips, which only a few people could request of it).

The 'bus bounded towards the Cat. It was still light enough for the creature not to need its eye headlights. It clattered to a many-legged halt in front of him, and Baron read the small brass nameplate affixed near one of the windows. _Nekobus Kitty. Do Not Delay._

To the Cat's surprise there was someone already in the vehicle. "Shoukichi! What in blazes are you doing here?"

"Baron!" gasped the nondescript salaryman sitting inside the Nekobus. "Thank God! I thought you'd grow tired of waiting for the 'bus and go to the Cat Kingdom some other way!"

One of the Nekobus' front windows enlarged into a door, and a set of furry steps appeared in the creature's side. Baron picked his carpetbag up and climbed aboard.

"Why on Earth are you here, Shoukichi?"

"Well, I, um, want to go with you on your trip." Shoukichi gestured to the bag that was lying on the seat beside him. "I was at home, so I got your letter quickly. I had it mailed and everything... then I packed..."

"Why?" The frosty tone in the Baron's voice said it all.

"Oh, please, Baron!" Shoukichi pleaded, changing into a _tanuki_ out of distress and clasping his paws together. "I'm tired of living a human life! Just this once I want to go on adventures like you do! Please take me with you! I promise I won't be a burden!"

"Shoukichi," Baron said gently, sitting down beside him, "I'm going to a dangerous place. Your place is with your family, not here with me."

"They can look after themselves. If I don't change my scenery even for a little while, I feel as though I'm going to explode!" The _tanuki_ made an expansive 'kaboom' gesture. "Please, Baron... you know I can be useful."

The Nekobus' door shrunk into a window again and it began to move. Baron looked outside, and was silent for so long the _tanuki_ thought he was going to order him off at the next stop.

"Alright," said the cat gentleman. "But you do realize your presence complicates things for me."

"How so?"

"I'm going to have to look after you as well as myself," von Jikkingen replied.

"I'm sorry..."

"Oh, that's okay." Baron chuckled. "I've been running around with Toto and Muta so long I just wanted to be by myself for a change." He extended a gloved hand to Shoukichi. "Welcome aboard."

Shoukichi took the hand and pumped it once, bowing as he did so. "Thank you! Oh, thank you!"

The Nekobus gained speed as it ran down the lane, passing by people who paid it no mind. Both the Cat and and _tanuki_ knew they were invisible, and that the humans would only feel a rush of wind going by them, stirring up debris, overturning flowerpots, and flipping skirts as it did so.

As soon as it had acquired the needed velocity the Nekobus galloped into the sky. After a few more stops around Tokyo, it would open a portal and head into the Country of Cats.

------oOo------

"And... go!"

Haru Yoshioka stutter-stepped, then shifted her balance and reached out with her epée, trapping her opponent's sword against her own, narrowly avoiding being touched by its tip. While maneuvering to keep it so entangled, she twisted, lunged at her opponent and, with an upward thrust of her blade against his lower belly, scored her fifth point. This was indicated by the sudden ignition of the red light on the scoring machine positioned some feet away to one side of the combatants. Her foe sucked in his breath in disappointment, but kept his mien as they held the pose for a split-second more, like dancers caught in a strobe light.

"Game set! Yoshioka wins!" boomed the referee.

Both masked and armor-clad parties, now separated, raised, then lowered their blades in the traditional fencer's salute, then added a perfunctory bow. Haru spent a moment unhooking her sword from the sensor mechanism before handing the cable over to a second. Then she stepped off the _piste,_ the strip that marked the battleground, and after talking a bit with her opponent and one of the old men—'old' being a relative thing to someone twenty summers young—who directed the fencing club, headed for the ladies' locker room.

Never again, she had promised herself long ago, shortly after her adventure in the Cat Kingdom. Never again would she sit helplessly waiting for someone to rescue her, as she did when she was being abducted by that horde of cats then-Assistant Secretary Natoru had led to the Cat Business Office. Baron couldn't always be around to help her, and she _hated_ the pitiful way her heart had leapt at the sight of him and Muta winging their way to her rescue. True, she had feelings for the handsome cat at the time and didn't mind his coming to her aid at all, so dazzled had she been by the whole adventure's sheer novelty. But later on, when he had almost stopped visiting her, she pondered on things and decided that, for her peace of mind and personal dignity, helping herself was the best solution. She would learn one unarmed and one armed fighting skill, she decided way back then. Not to become expert in them, just enough to defend herself if necessary.

During the latter half of her second senior year in high school she had cajoled her darling Kei, then one of the Karate Club's sub-captains, into introducing her to the world of the empty hand, and afterwards she also decided to take up fencing. She didn't really know why she had chosen it; perhaps it was a subconscious reaction to having seen Baron skillfully fending off their pursuers with his cane. In any case, she didn't want to take up _kendo_ or _kyuudo_, like the other few girls she knew were interested in armed sports did. She wanted to be different, and fencing was as different—and unusual, and dignified, at least in foil and epée—as an armed discipline she could find and still be somewhat practical. She also had to admit to herself that it was her way of linking herself to the Continental ways of Baron and the incredible adventure she had undergone, as the days ran away and she saw him less and less.

But fencing equipment didn't come cheap, so she had taken up several part-time jobs in order to buy what she needed. She couldn't in good conscience ask her mom for them; things were hard enough as they were, her being a single parent and all. Even so, her mom gave her a little over three-fourths of the money she needed, and she earned the rest over the months succeeding her graduation. Once she had bought her armor, blade and helmet, she signed up with a local club and proceeded to learn what she could. Her favored class had always been the epée; the foil was too light for her taste and the saber was filled with men who outweighed her and could shove her around during a match. Besides, to use it one needed strength and aggression, and Haru's forte had never been either. Her advantage was in her speed and agility, which, according to one of her instructors (and Machida, who learned of it while earning a black eye the hard way, through sparring unprotected with her during her early karate days), was exceptional for someone of her willowy frame and relatively long limbs.

After finishing her shower Haru dressed, packed her gear, slung her equipment bag over her shoulder, and walked out of the changing room. Her body ached from the unaccustomed exertion. She had been forced to lay her sports aside for some months now, as college work had been particularly vicious lately. But it was the start of summer vacation, and she was looking forward to a nice set of weeks wherein she could pretty much do as she wanted.

"Haru!"

The call pulled her out of the sanctuary of her thoughts. Waving at her was a girl of her own age, wearing a bright pink pullover, faded jeans and purple canvas-top running shoes, with short chestnut-brown hair curled smartly at one side of her face and a large bag slung over one shoulder.

"Hiromi! Hi!"

Haru's old high-school classmate strode up to her. "Aww," she said, eyeing her friend's bag, moist hair and fresh clothes. "I was going to ask if you wanted to play lacrosse with me. Can I see your sword for a moment?"

"Sure." Haru brought the weapon out of the long, thin sack she had tailored specially for it. She knew why Hiromi wanted to look at it. "Here."

Hiromi took it and looked at once at the basket hilt. "Hey, you've finished it! How cute!"

Haru smiled. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

They were both talking about the little medallion-like design Haru had worked and fastened onto the hilt's steel bell guard. She had originally wanted just a little sketch in acrylic, but then changed her mind and went ahead and began shaping what now was decorating the hilt: a raised silhouette of a cat standing on two legs and holding a cane, on a pointillist background consisting of a top hat and a stylized rose, the entire thing on a lozenge-shaped piece of alloy. She had started working on it even before she got her blade, practicing with an awl on scrap pieces of metal she had scrounged from around the house and her high-school crafts department, to determine what could and could not be done; she did the preliminary sketching and outlining, then let a craftsman take over on the detailing. But the golden hue now coloring its raised parts hadn't been done by either of them; instead Haru had sent the whole thing to a metalworker whose specialty had been re-gilding wind instruments and the like.

She had paid dearly for such a little thing, but it was all worth it: now, whenever she held her sword, she looked at the design and felt the old rush she had felt when she was with the Baron, Muta and Toto. Her heart would soar and she would pretend that she was once again by the Cat's side, swashbuckling beside him, instead of just sitting there waiting to be rescued. Sometimes she'd let her imagination roam further, and in her mind's eye the Baron would sweep her off her feet once again and say to her, "Haru, that was excellent bladework!" Then his head would descend upon hers, and his big yellow eyes with their peculiar shine would encompass her vision as he, overcome with admiration, kissed her...

That was the secret of her success in fencing, the one she never told anyone about, the reason why she was already middle-classed after such a short time; her inspiration was real and undying, and it was just out there, helping other people in need...

"I still can't understand why you're so obsessed with cats, though," she heard Hiromi saying. "I mean, if you liked 'em any more, you'd probably start looking like a cat yourself."

Haru was startled for a second. If her best friend only knew... if only she could tell her... She shaped a hand into a claw and mock-scratched Hiromi's bemused face.

"_Niao,_" she hissed. "Watch what you say, cute little mousie, or I'm going to eat you up."

"Haha," said Hiromi, handing her the epée back. "Speaking of which, you haven't seen Tsuge hereabouts, have you?"

Haru shook her head. "No. Why should I? Didn't he come back with you from school?" The pair had been lucky enough to have been accepted to the same university, whereas Haru and Machida, who went to different schools, had to make the best of odd days and weekends.

"He went home ahead of me, and I... well, I sorta told him he was gaining a few pounds." A guilty look settled on Hiromi's face. "The first thing he said was that he'd start working out when he got home, and since this gym is near his parents' house..."

"Ah, bad Hiromi!" Haru exclaimed, widening her eyes in disapproval. "You've punctured his male ego! Oh, you know how guys like Tsuge feel about that!" She parodied a scowling Tsuge, exaggerating the contortion of her eyebrows to remind Hiromi of his thick ones.

"I know, I know. Give me a break, will you? I wasn't meaning to insult him anyway."

Haru chuckled a little. "Look, I'm starving," she said. She carefully strapped her sword back to the side of her equipment bag: the blunt-tipped blade was going to break one of these days, but until then, she would use it and be reminded of Baron. "Why don't we go grab a bite somewhere, and while we're at it, trade truths about how vain men can be?"

"It's a deal," Hiromi agreed, grinning. She led the way out of the gym.

------oOo------

Seiji Amasawa stared out the window at the reddish sunset sky. What was supposed to be a fun jaunt with a friend to his remote mountain homestead had quickly turned into a nightmare. The phones were down, the roads were socked in, there had been no electricity for the past week...

"Hey, boy, you okay?"

Seiji turned his head. The woman who owned the house, Mrs. Camini, mother of his fellow violin-making apprentice Charles, was standing behind him, offering him a mug of something steaming.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm fine." Fortunately Seiji had learned the Italian language well over the years, in no small part thanks to the absent Charles. He accepted the mug with a nod of the head. "How is she?"

"Fair enough," replied Mrs. Camini. "The antibiotics that doctor recommended to us over the phone seem to have kept her condition stable." The radio in the municipal hall had proved invaluable; now they were waiting for rescue, as the only road leading to the village had been blocked by landslides in several places.

Not one to mince words, though, the matron with the curly salt-and-pepper locks added in a quiet voice, "But she's not getting better."

Seiji silently stood up from the windowside chair he had been sitting on. His dark eyes looked into Mrs. Camini's blue ones as he said, "I'll watch over her now. Thank you."

"Seiji," Mrs. Camini said as he started for the guest bedroom.

"Yes?"

"You haven't slept yet. I'd be glad to watch over your wife some more."

"No, ma'am. I'll do it, I've rested enough."

Seiji made his way to the bedroom where Shizuku lay, uneasily sleeping under piles of blankets. The sight tore at his heart; never strong in body to begin with, she was now struggling with a bout of pneumonia that had begun with a simple cough some days ago. Maybe if he hadn't let himself succumb so easily to her blandishments and slowed their headlong rush through Italy... if he had been more strict with her wearing warm clothing before her cough turned into something worse...

He noted the sheen of sweat on her forehead as he went to her side and quickly set his mug down on the bedside table. He picked up the washcloth resting in the basin of warm water on the same table and wrung it, then wiped her forehead.

At his touch she stirred. She murmured, "Seiji? Seiji? I remember."

"Remember what?" he asked, his voice low, worried that she was delirious.

"Thank you for painting me, Seiji..."

------oOo------

_"Now Seiji, I still haven't forgotten the fact that you haven't gotten me that 'extra-special' wedding gift you promised."_

_"Shizuku-chan, I... to tell you the truth, I can't think of something to give you, except maybe..." The young husband laid a hand on his new wife's shoulder, and his lips planted a ghost of a kiss on the juncture where shoulder swept up to throat._

_"Ah," Shizuku Amasawa, Tsukishima until a few hours ago that evening, giggled as a _frisson_ of excitement ran up her spine. "_Seiji hentai! Hentai-hentai-hentai, taihen-taihen-taihen_... Don't be so impatient."_

_"Sorry. That's not the reason why I haven't gotten you it yet. The truth is..." Seiji's grip tightened ever so slightly. "Every gift I can think of seems so paltry, when I compare it to you."_

_Shizuku blushed and put her hand on his. Maybe it was all the liquor she had consumed that evening, both at the wedding and the reception; she felt spaced out, and everything somehow seemed unreal and happening too fast._

_"Flatterer," she said. "I still can't believe I married that rude jerk who used to be my classmate in high school."_

_"And I can't believe I married that little waif of a bookworm whose idea of a good time was curling up with books. Fantasy ones, at that."_

_"Hey, you read them too!"_

_"I was just joking."_

_Shizuku turned and faced the large windows of their Ginza hotel suite. Their stay there was a joint surprise from both their families. "Seiji."_

_"Yeah?"_

_"About that gift... well, I don't really need it, but if you still plan on giving me one, could I make a suggestion?"_

_"And what would that be?"_

_Shizuku pushed him away, then turned her back to him. Seiji watched as she slowly loosened her velvety pink bathrobe until the reverse décolletage showed off an appreciable amount of the pale skin of her shoulders and the back of her neck. A slender lower leg emerged tantalizingly from the slit at the side of her garment. Ah, the gentle curve of her calf, the shining daintiness of her lacquered toenails..._

_Shizuku turned until she was half-facing her new husband. "I-I want you to paint my picture," she said, daring and shyness mingled in her voice, her large, expressive eyes hooded. "Not just my portrait. The whole of me."_

_Seiji raised his eyebrows. "Oh, uh, okay, but I didn't bring my stuff..."_

_"Clueless man of mine," Shizuku chuckled. "Not tonight. Later, after our honeymoon."_

_"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Seiji replied, warming to her idea. Why hadn't he thought of it? he cursed himself. "You want me to paint you like that?"_

_The slightly-built young woman looked away from him, out into the Tokyo night. "No!" she exclaimed, her voice husky with nervousness. "Not like this." The bathrobe dropped to the floor; Seiji's jaw dropped just as far, as Shizuku turned around._

_"Like this!"_

------oOo------

The violin-maker couldn't help smiling at the memory, almost a year old now. It had all been just a bit too much at that moment. The fact that normally quiet and reserved Shizuku was coming on to him, coupled with the sight of her gorgeous nakedness, had resulted in him losing control... and getting a nosebleed. After the initial flurry of "I'm sorry... No, no, it's okay, I'll get you some tissues," they enjoyed a good laugh at themselves and spent the rest of the evening in a quiet fashion, basking in the happiness of each other's company and undivided attention. They never got any further until the gray of dawn came creeping into the suite, and they, lying side-by-side on the king-size bed, somehow opened their eyes and found themselves looking at each other...

"Yes, that was the best work I've ever done, dearest... did you like my music?"

"Yes, yes... very nice..." Seiji had tried to play something for her a while ago, while the sun was still in the sky. On a violin he had borrowed from Charlie's room he tried to perform 'Country Road' to raise her spirits and his own. But his fingers, frozen with both fear and cold, wouldn't cooperate, and the violin was like a block of ice. It sounded more like a metal grinder to his ears than something meant to play music.

"I'm glad you liked it."

Shizuku moaned and coughed. "Yes, you make me happy, Seiji... all my thoughts... happy ones... must remember them..."

"Shhh. Go back to sleep. I'll be here if you need me..." Seiji returned the washcloth to the basin and began to massage her left arm. When he moved to her hand and began to press the tips of her fingers she cried out, as if in pain.

"No! Stop! The Baron..."

"Shizuku? What're you talking about?" Seiji shook her, to separate her from any nightmare she might be having. "Hang on, darling, help is bound to arrive very soon."

Shizuku opened her eyes, and for a moment Seiji was dumbstruck. A faint radiance, interspersed within with strings of darkness, colored her pupils a deep honey-yellow-and-black mixture, banded like a cat's-eye topaz. He knew what the phenomenon was; his grandfather had shown it to him long ago, in a certain statuette's eyes.

"What the—_Engel's Zimmer?_"

The glow filled the room, and Seiji suddenly lost consciousness.


	4. Haru's Travails

**Author's Too-Wordy Notes:** Please take note: I've revised everything from the beginning. When I started the second chapter the timeline was still vague to me. As I went on I had difficulty chronologically locating the events happening to Shizuku in relation with the ones happening to Haru. Now that I've finally fixed it, I've settled on July 8 as the date in which this story begins. In the original story the vignette came from, the Prologue was originally supposed to occur in late March, but as I hashed this out I found I had to avoid putting a large gap between it and subsequent events, otherwise the plot would start unraveling because of the long time period between Seiji and Shizuku's disappearance and Haru's. And it being July, I had to revise the end of _The Nekobus Kitty_ chapter the most.

I also had to get Haru back to her old homestead, and if she were in college the only reasonable thing I could think of to bring that about was to set it during summer vacation—I am assuming that like a majority of Japanese _daigakusei_ she is unable to stay at home and rooms elsewhere during the school season, and because she's from a single-parent family she has to seek part-time work to help herself.

I underestimated how much work it would be trying to bring Shizuku and Haru's worlds together with only Baron and Muta as their common ground! I'd gladly list the things I had to do, but I'm afraid if I do that _your_ head will explode too—mine's holding up quite nicely now, with all the masking tape and baling wire. I'm terribly sorry I had to change Haru's personality and the nature of Seiji and Shizuku's relationship. _Mimi_ is such a sweet manga and movie, and now I've gone and turned its two main characters' relationship into something more mature. As for Haru, I didn't want to let her reprise her damsel-in-distress role in the movie. I hope in the end it will all prove worthwhile.

PS: _Ellenlome_, in reference to your first review: if I were to tell you that there was a bit of Baron/Haru romance involved, would you kill me?

* * *

HARU'S TRAVAILS

Haru Yoshioka was crying.

She was alone in her bedroom. Her nocturnal guest had just left a few minutes earlier, leaving her to sit at the side of her bed angry, dejected, sad, and confused all at the same time.

Dejected, because it had been so long since Machida visited her, and yet they just _had_ to fight on the very occasion. Sad, because his precipitate departure increased her feelings of loneliness all the more. Angry and confused...

Because Kei wanted something from her she wasn't prepared to give. At least, not yet.

It had all started with a noise at the balcony at eleven in the evening. Forewarned through an SMS message, Haru was already waiting, already knew who it was. Opening the door of her balcony, she found him scaling an aluminum ladder, grinning sheepishly at her as he handed up to her a bouquet of red roses and cream-white gladioli. What were they for? she had asked after thanking him. Nothing much, he replied. They were there just because he had missed her.

"You could've come in through the front door," she had said dryly as she helped him over the rail.

"Yeah, well, you know my quirks," he replied, squeezing her hand and pulling her to him as his feet lighted on the deck.

They spent a few minutes in each other's arms, holding each other close, whispering questions and answers only the other was meant to hear. Then Machida leaned down and kissed her, and she answered back ardently. After such a long time the warmth of his lips, his scent, indeed, his very touch was a drug that Haru couldn't get enough of. The bouquet fell to the floor, forgotten, as they continued to press their lips together, unmindful of the fact that they were in view of the entire street. Then all of a sudden Kei pushed Haru into her room and kicked the door shut with his heel. Haru's old clumsiness returned, and her feet stepped on his just as they were shifting position, so that they fell and landed on her bed. Machida ended up lying on top of her; Haru looked into the intense gaze of his eyes, felt his body stir against her loins as they parted lips, and knew what he wanted.

All her passionate thoughts evaporated like rain on a hot tin roof, and that was when the spat began. She stopped him by shoving him away from her, and after she had apologized for the unexpected action, they once again they began taxing each other beyond the end of their patience, with arguments that they had had many times before, if not so acrimoniously: Machida, some months ago, had come to the conclusion that it was time to take their relationship to the next level; Haru wanted it to remain as it was. Neither was prepared to give in to the other. The meeting had ended with them slinging hurtful words around. Haru couldn't remember—didn't want to remember—everything that she had said to him, but she could recall everything he told her. She remembered how vulnerable she felt while trying to ask for his forbearance, knowing he wouldn't understand her and just get angry. But what really stuck in her craw, what made her so unwilling to forgive him, was his claim that she was leading him on, that she was a tease and nothing more.

Couldn't he understand? She loved him, but wasn't ready to take the next step yet. Her pride and her anger had prevented her from saying such things just then. Instead she looked on as he got up, straightened his clothes, kissed her on the forehead, and walked briskly back out the balcony door. She followed and watched as he slid down the ladder. As he brought it down she saw the red streaks on his palms, where he had cut himself on the metal. She wanted to call out to him, tell him to stop; but she didn't, and after replacing the ladder at the back of Haru's house Kei walked away into the night without looking back.

That was when Haru shut her balcony door, sat down on her bed, and started to cry.

_I don't understand,_ she thought. _Is there something wrong with me? Is there something wrong with a girl who refuses to give in and have sex with her boyfriend because she isn't ready? Am I being too much of a prude? Or worse,_ Haru worried,_ am I frigid and just don't know it?_

The knock on the door brought her out of her misery. She wiped her eyes as best she could and blew her nose; then, to conceal the fact that she had been crying, she brought one of her textbooks to her face, pretending to be engrossed in it as she opened the door.

"Yeah, Mom?"

Mrs. Yoshioka stood in the middle of the corridor. The eyes behind the oval glasses were full of motherly sympathy as she murmured, "Haru? Would you like to talk about it?" She gently but firmly pulled the book down, away from her daughter's face, and looked her in the eyes. "Stop trying to hide from me. I could hear you two from my room even with the doors closed. I think it's time you and I discussed some things, dear."

Haru dropped her book and her guard and put her arms around her mother. Mrs.Yoshioka stroked her daughter's back as she began to bawl.

------oOo------

"Hmm." Hiromi stabbed the bendy straw thrice into her mango shake, then sipped. "Cheer up, Haru. You two've had this sort of fight before, and you always made up afterwards. I'm sure Machida's going to call you soon and ask you to forgive him."

"I don't know, Hiromi. I'm worried we've both gone past the point of no return now."

It was ten in the morning of a sunny day, and the two friends were seated at an outdoor café near the Crossroads, where Haru, prior to being kidnapped and taken to the Cat Kingdom, had been told by a mysterious voice—Queen Yuki's, as it turned out—to look for a large white cat and ask for the Cat Business Office. That was the first time she met Muta. She and Hiromi had passed by the place, but her coarse-mannered feline friend was nowhere to be seen. There were other cats roaming around, though. Stealthily walking on the roofs, or nonchalantly sauntering along the sidewalks, minding their own business, in that self-possessed way cats do.

Haru looked up from her latté, which she'd been idly stirring around with a teaspoon. She looked around her.

"Hey, Yoshioka. What's up?"

"Nothing. Do you get the feeling we're being watched?"

"Why, sure!" Hiromi happily replied, adjusting her shades. "We're two attractive, smartly-dressed young ladies. Why shouldn't people be watching us?"

"Oh, Hiromi. That's not what I meant." Haru lifted her cup to her lips and took a small swallow. "It's probably just me, fantasizing that Kei was about to rush up and ask me to forgive him."

"Well, I can understand that. Come on, let's get something to eat, shall we?"

------oOo------

Five minutes later it happened again.

"Look," said an increasingly exasperated Hiromi, "there's no one spying on us, okay? Geez, you're more jumpy than Tsuge used to be before a regionals match."

No, this time she was wrong, thought Haru as she spied a jet-black feline head looking down at her from the second-floor ledge of a nearby building. Its bright golden eyes gave her the shivers. As she watched, it popped down, out of sight, and a black cat walked along the ledge, away from her, looking back at her every now and then. Before it reached the ledge corner the cat stared at her, held its tail up and curled it once, like a beckoning finger, as if to say, _Follow me, if you can._ Then, wonder of wonders, it stood up on its hind legs and promptly stepped out of sight!

Haru rapidly considered the benefits of following the cat. She was sure it had something to do with the Cat Business Office. After all, the Crossroads was where they waited for people who needed their help to contact them, wasn't it? If she could tail the mysterious bipedal-capable kitty, it might lead her to the magical town and Baron again!

"Darn!" she suddenly exclaimed, causing Hiromi to choke on her shake in surprise. "Uh, look, Hiromi. I forgot I was supposed to buy my mom something for lunch. I have to go, okay?"

"But–"

Haru stood up, placed her palms together and bowed. "Sorry! Let's go shopping some other time, please? Please?"

"Oh, fine," Hiromi groused good-naturedly. "But next time you're treating me."

"I'll treat you now!" Haru dug around in her purse and handed some bills over to her. "I'm so sorry, I have to go, bye!"

Hiromi took the money and signaled for the waiter. She watched Haru walk quickly away from her, her hip-hugging blue midi-length skirt rhythmically moving to and fro as she kept looking up at something Hiromi couldn't see.

"Haru," she muttered to herself as her friend disappeared around a nearby street corner, "that's not the way to any food shop. And you told me your mom wouldn't be at home today. You liar."

------oOo------

Haru had almost forgotten the run across the rooftops when she was following Muta, the first and only time he led her to the Cat Business Office. Today, as she negotiated hazardous obstacle after hazardous obstacle, she promised herself she would never, ever forget it again.

She found the black cat sitting on top of a parking garage's galvanized-iron roof, as if waiting for her. The moment it saw her clambering up the chain-link fence surrounding the property it took off at a comfortable lope.

The cat led her a merry chase through a myriad collection of alleys and byways, so many Haru couldn't memorize them, as she had planned to. It wasn't as easy as before; the passageways were more difficult to traverse, and Haru's body had fleshed itself out since then, rendering her less limber and her maneuverings more awkward. By the time she began to recognize several landmarks from her previous visit to the Cat Business Office, her hair was mussed, there was a rust stain on her dark-blue bolero jacket, and the leather of her shoes was cut from walking on protruding nails.

Eventually she emerged facing the same stone-flagged passage she had previously come into after following Muta. Haru jumped down from the last roof and saw the black cat passing under the arch that led into the circular clearing with Toto's pillar at the center.

_Yes!_ she exulted as she recognized the familiar stone structure. _I made it! Take that, you mischievous cat!_

With a whoop of joy she ran into the square, careful not to hit her head on the top of the arch, since everything in this place—where it was, she didn't know and didn't really care to find out—was about a quarter of the size of things in the real world. Just the right size for Baron, Toto, and Muta.

And, it seemed, all the other inhabitants of this town. Unlike last time, the place was occupied. Gentlefolk of all kinds shrieked and screamed and ran as she emerged into the square. There was a human in the town! Save us! Save us!

"Wait! Come back! I don't mean you any harm!" Haru tried to reassure them, but it was no use. The square cleared as if by magic, and she was left standing alone by Toto's pillar, which was also empty.

Haru's eyes rested upon the quaint and brightly-colored façade of the Cat Business Office just as its doors banged open, and a large white cat on two legs emerged from it. "What's all the ruckus?" it yelled angrily, looking around. "Are we being invaded by rats again? Are the pigeons... you!"

Haru stood and waved timidly at the irate fat cat. "Hi, Muta."

Muta spun around and marched back into the depths of the Office. "Luna!" he roared. "Did you bring this girl here?"

"She followed me home," Haru heard another, more cultured voice with a strange sort of lisp answer as she walked nearer to the Office. "Can I keep her?"

"Why didn't you lose her? You know we aren't supposed to–"

"I wanted to get back here before you ate all the chiffon cake," the voice said with an insouciant laziness. "Goodness knows how hungry I am."

"Uh, Muta," Haru ventured, stooping and speaking into the cool darkness of the Office. "If it's any consolation, I still don't know how I got here. Your friend got me all confused and lost."

"Muta's friend's name is Luna," said the black cat, emerging from the Office. "Come in, please, come in. Forgive Muta's lack of manners. He's always like that, but he's actually quite a nice guy."

Haru obligingly squeezed herself into the Office. It was a very tight fit, but she managed to enter the familiar place. "Just like Baron said," Haru reminisced, smiling.

Muta gave an ungentlemanly snort. He faced Haru from the kitchen area, made a comedic bow and doffed an imaginary hat. "Begging your pardon, Ladyship, but would you like some cake?"

"Better accept, Miss Haru," said Luna, "or he's liable to leave you only the crumbs."

"Not even that," amended the fat cat, handing Haru a fork and a large (for them) saucer with a slice of cake with a fluffy white frosting on it. "Oh, and here's yours, Luna."

"Why, thank you, Muta."

"Hmph, that's just so you can't accuse me of eating the whole thing by myself."

"Tea?" Luna asked Haru, gesturing for her to sit down. "We can't touch the Baron's supply, so I'm afraid you'll have to content yourself with regular barley tea."

"The heck we can't," said Muta, yanking a particular cabinet open. "Don't be such a worrywart, Luna, he'll forgive us." He brought out a metal canister and, over the black cat's protestations, began mixing a fresh pot.

"Muta, I never knew you could be so domestic," Haru said, her doe eyes twinkling in delight as she watched the fat cat making tea. She gathered her skirt under her and carefully sat down on a corner cushion. Being in this place, she thought, made her feel like she was inside a giant dollhouse, similar to the British Queen Mary's.

"Domesticity has nothing to do with it," Muta countered. "You eat as much as I do, you learn your way around a kitchen, or starve to death."

"He might not look it, but Muta's actually something of a Renaissance cat when it comes to food," came another voice, strong and definitely male. A black cat identical to Luna entered the Office's open doors. "A corpulent Renaissance cat."

"Hey!" Muta rumbled as both cats laughed. "I resent that! I may be fat, but I'm not corpulent!"

"I was just kidding, old boy," said the newly-arrived feline, shutting the entrance. "You're more of an Asashoryu than anything else."

Muta, pleased with the comparison, fell to making muscleman poses while the new cat looked up at Haru. "Hi. I'm Luna's twin. My name is Moon."

"Moon?" Haru said even as she nodded in greeting to him. "But I thought–"

"Muta's name is Renaldo Moon. I'm just plain Moon. The others don't call him 'Moon' when I'm around. It tends to confuse everybody." The cat and looked Haru up and down. "So you're that client Baron and Muta saved from the Cat King. I'm pleased to meet you." Moon bowed and took a seat on the sofa in the middle of the room.

"Pleased to meet you too. Yes, that 'client,' as you say, is me. And if you don't mind my asking, where is he? Baron, I mean. And Toto?" Haru marked the glances Muta gave Moon and Luna. "I was sort of hoping he'd still be here."

Muta shook his head, handed her a cup of tea and Moon a piece of cake. "Sorry, Haru. He's already gone to look for Louise. He left three days ago."

"Without you? How about Toto?"

"He's off looking for another person dear to Baron," said Luna, taking a bite from her piece of cake.

Haru spent a moment digesting the information, then spoke what was in her heart. "How come you guys stopped visiting me, Muta? Even when I saw you at the Crossroads you always ignored me. You wouldn't even speak to me!"

"Well..." The fat cat looked uneasy. "We've been very busy, Haru. And those times when you met me at the Crossroads, I couldn't talk to you. Oh, you explain it to her, Luna. I'm not good with words."

"The truth is, Miss Haru," said Luna, "whenever we finish a case, we try to end relations with our clients as gracefully as possible. It wouldn't help if someone like you got too attached to us, for example. It's been known to happen. We exist in different worlds, and you must live in your own."

"I _have_ been living in my own world. What's so wrong about wanting to keep in touch with you guys?"

"This!" said Muta suddenly, jerking his paw, pointing at the floor. "Unannounced visits, possible interference with Office affairs, the secret of this place leaking out..."

"Muta!" Haru exclaimed in dismay. "Do you really believe I'd do that?"

"Of course not! Still, rules are rules." Muta sighed. "If you want a better explanation, you'd better ask Baron when he comes back."

"When _is_ he coming back? He told me he'd be away for about a month."

"We don't really know," answered Moon. "You can't afford to be too precise with dates when on a job. Isn't that right, Luna?"

The other black cat nodded.

"Are you guys also invited to the Christmas party?" asked Haru.

"Everyone is," answered Muta. "Didn't Baron tell you that?"

"Huh. He acted like it was a special thing."

"Oh, it is," Moon concurred. "Believe me, it is."

------oOo------

Haru spent half an hour more chit-chatting with the trio, then was escorted back to the Crossroads by Moon, who said that it was his turn to stand vigil there. When Haru asked him why the Office didn't resort to more modern means of communication, such as telephones and the like, Moon answered, "Who'd put them up and integrate them with your networks? No one would be able to maintain them: your linemen would always be removing whatever we put up. Don't let the incident with the Cat Country fool you, Haru. There aren't very many of us who, ah, interface with your world."

"I see." Privately, Haru thought she didn't, but decided to keep her peace.

Just before they parted ways Moon complimented her on her athleticism.

"Well, I've always been into sports, ever since I was in junior high. It was my way of blowing steam off at how the world seemed to visit misfortune on me," Haru explained. She fell silent, and the expression on her face lent weight to Moon's conjecturing.

"You're angry, aren't you? Have I done something to give offense?"

"Yes and no. Yes, I'm angry, and no, you haven't. How'd you know I was angry?"

"I can smell it coming off your body. Are you sure I didn't do anything?"

Haru nodded. "It's the Office. I don't like the way you imply that I'm a burden, something to be avoided."

"I'm sorry, Miss Haru. We aren't being personal. It's just that–"

Haru raised a hand, and several passers-by watched, amazed and bewildered, as she addressed the black cat. "No explanations needed. I understand. Thanks for bringing me back here." She abruptly walked off. Moon could understand how she felt, as he had been treated much the same way before the Amasawas took him and Luna in and made them a part of their family. When Baron got stolen and Nishi-san died he and Luna decided to finally fulfill their dream and leave Chikyuuya. They returned to the Cat Business Office, got back on active status, and took part in some wild adventures themselves. At the time of Haru's kidnapping they were in Belgrade, helping to end the persecution of some dogs and other pets that had been abandoned by their owners, so she never saw them.

A strident honking made Moon jump. He looked behind him and saw a teenager with a pageboy haircut and straight bangs—dressed in some strange old-fashioned blue-and-white ceremonial garb, sitting on a scooter—eyeing him, waiting for him to get off the street.

_A considerate fellow,_ he thought, meowing his apology as he ambled to the curb. _Not many humans would stop for a cat in the middle of a road. They'd just as soon run him over._

The young man turned to him. "Pardon me, but it's been ages since I've visited this world," he said. "Is this the way to the Green Day Magic Shop?"

"A-are you talking to me?" Moon stammered, shocked.

The teenager lifted an eyebrow. "Who else?" He repeated his question.

"Go down the street and turn left at the third intersection, then go down a block. It's the shop with the neon _shikigami_ logo hanging out front."

"Thanks." Just before the lad pulled away Moon thought he heard him mumble, "Come on, Haku, get it together, or you'll spoil the ingredients and—" the teenager said a name Moon couldn't quite comprehend, but it seemed to start with a 'ze' "—will never forgive you."

------oOo------

_Men!_ railed an infuriated Haru as she threw her purse onto her bed. _Men of all species are... are..._ At a loss for words to describe her disgust, she flopped onto the soft mattress. First Machida and now this. She wondered what Baron would have said, if he saw her this angry about it.

Her gaze wandered to the epée hanging on her wall. She sat up and took it, idly twirling the guard round in her hand as she tried to cool herself down. She supposed it was only right that the members of the Cat Business Office acted like that. Couldn't have a hapless human hanging round the Office and mucking things up, could they? If their other cases were anything like hers, they dealt with life and death frequently, and that was excuse enough for them not to want her around or need her attention. Still, it hurt. Poor Haru Yoshioka, she thought. Living in one world but still fascinated by the other.

As for Machida... she was already regretting the accusation she had hurled at him, patently untrue, that he was unreasonable and all he wanted from her was her body. Early in their relationship she had told him she hated men who were like that, and he had done much to prove he wasn't looking for just a quick roll in the hay with her. She sighed. At least what had happened between them proved that she was desirable in one guy's eyes. Not that it was much consolation.

_I'll run you through, Kei-chan!_ she thought wildly, waving the sword in the air, giggling at herself. _Why'd you give me gladioli? Don't you know another name for them is 'sword-lily'? Hahah! With them and the thorns of the roses you cut my heart open and watch me bleed._ She was about to lay the epée down and strip her soiled jacket off when she noticed the Cat medallion on the bell guard glowing.

What's this? she wondered. She was shifting the sword, thinking it was a trick of the afternoon sunlight, when she suddenly felt herself being pulled into the glow. She had just enough time to shout a strangled "Mom!" before she disappeared into the light, like a swimmer being sucked into a whirlpool. Her mother wouldn't have heard her anyway, no matter how loudly she shouted; Mrs. Yoshioka was still at work.

------oOo------

Downstairs, a few minutes after Haru's disappearance, the phone began to emit its shrill electronic tones, demanding that someone pick it up. After eight times of going unheard in the empty house they stopped. It was Machida. He wasn't going to be able to talk to Haru that day. Or the day after that. Or the next...


	5. The Return to the Country of Cats

**Author's Note:** I have two writing speeds: slow and boring, and fast and hideous. This is an example of hideous. Got to listen to the muse as she sings, and I always end up revising my entries anyway, sometimes months after first posting them.

Hope you enjoy these next three chapters. A bit short, each is, but I couldn't resist separating them.

PS: _Ellenlome_: You know, this is getting scary. You like Morrowind, I like Morrowind. You've played Baldur's Gate II, I've played the original. And only now, as I post this, do I remember that you have an assassin in _Whispers of a Distant Land_. You'll see what I mean, if you read this.

* * *

THE RETURN TO THE COUNTRY OF CATS

Haru was in utter darkness. Only her body, clad in a ruffed 16th-century English noblewoman's costume, and another's, in a light gray suit, were visible, illuminated as if by unseen spotlights.

"Baron! Wait!"

The Cat in the Evening Coat turned around. "Yes?"

"You win." Haru lowered her head. "You can have your way with me."

Even at the distance they were at Haru could see the eyebrows and brow-whiskers go up. "Pardon?"

"I said you can have your way with me!" Haru made no effort to conceal the blush on her cheeks. She felt she could no longer spare the energy.

Baron smiled. Not in the confident way Haru had seen him do before, and not in the reassuring way he had done before he twirl-jumped off the school rooftop ledge onto the passing Toto's back long ago. It was an evil smile, full of malice.

Haru watched as Baron's face melted into that of Machida's. Her boyfriend adjusted the bow tie around his neck, still smiling all the while. "Tease," came his voice. "Feel what it's like to have your advances rejected." Then he turned away and vanished into the darkness.

------oOo------

Haru started and opened her eyes. She found herself staring up at the dark foliage and branches of a tree. She was sitting leaning against its bole. It was nighttime.

_Where? What..._ She put a hand on her forehead, intending to rub it. _A dream. It was just a dream._

But the cool air on her cheeks felt very real. So did the rough ground beneath her lower legs. _How did I get here?_ _The last thing I remember is being in my bedroom, and a bright golden light pulling me in..._ As she scratched her head, her hand moved back a little, from her forehead to the side. She touched a flap of... skin? Cartilage? She _felt_ the touch, and investigated some seconds more.

Her shriek sent the birds roosting in the tree flying off into the night.

------oOo------

Nearby, two figures walking through the silent wood jerked to a stop at the sudden sound.

"Haunted, I told ya," one said.

"No, listen! There, someone's calling for help!"

"Hey, where ya going? Don't go that way!"

"Ghosts, sheeah, right. Come on, we have to see who it is! Are you a cat or a mouse?"

"Neither. I'm a chicken. Bokbokbokbokbok."

"So arm yourself! I don't know why the Army even accepted you, you coward."

"Uh, because the tabby clerk at the recruiting office liked mah looks?"

"Shut up!"

------oOo------

Haru stumbled through the underbrush, heading for a set of lights that seemed to indicate the presence of a road. _It can't be!_ she wailed to herself. _It can't! I can't be turning into a cat again! A bad dream! Yeah, that's what this is! A bad dream, and nothing else!_

She heard voices calling out, searching for her, promising her help. At that point she would have welcomed even the Devil himself, if he promised to aid her and explain what was going on. She yelled back, telling them where she was. In a few minutes the owners of the voices had homed in on her position.

------oOo------

"So that's how it is, huh? I'm really in the Cat Kingdom again?"

"Yeah. You're lucky we were in the vicinity," said the older of the two cats standing by her, her equal in size. He was a tom with striped orange fur and mascara lines on his face. A large golden hoop earring dangled from his right ear. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined finding a pretty kitty like you, wandering alone at night in these woods."

Haru covered her cat ears with her hands. "I'm not a kitty! I'm a human! I'm a hum_meeow!_" She blinked. "Eep."

"Well, you sure look like a cat to me, except for your legs and hands."

"And she don't have no tail," remarked the other, younger cat, a tom with gray fur whose bluish tint could be seen even in the dim light of the lamps lining the highroad. "Not unless you've got Manx blood or are hidin' it under your skirt." His hand moved unconsciously towards the blue cloth and got batted away by the Sergeant, who gave him a stern 'what-the-hell-do-you-think-you're-doing' look.

Haru shook her head.

"Well, Miss Haru, we had really better get going," said Sergeant Jarashi of His Majesty's Fifth Fusiliers. "Like we told you, the next town's just past that hill. It's not too safe traveling at night."

"Yeah, we were hurryin' there ourselves," said Private Tweep Fisher. "I just want a bed to lie on and a door between me and the night."

"You can join us if you want to." The Sergeant shifted his pack to another shoulder. "After all, it only makes sense. We're heading for the Cat King's Castle, and I think that'd be the best place for you to seek help."

"I guess you're right," said Haru after thinking it over. "But I don't have any money. All I have are the clothes on my back."

"An' this!" Private Fisher raised Haru's epée. "I can't believe ya didn't know ya were carryin' this in yer hand. Yah must've really been frightened out of your wits."

"It's okay, Miss Haru. Since both the kid and I like pretty kitties, we'll cover for you for now." The Sergeant winked. "I hope you're not hungry, though. We don't have _that_ much money."

"Now that you mention it, I am," Haru groaned. "But it's okay, I can bear it."

"Ya can have mah sandwich," Private Fisher said, holding up a small paper bag. Seeing the dubious look on Haru's face, he added, "No worries, it's broiled chicken and lettuce."

"Lettuce," the Sergeant said in disgust, sticking his tongue out as Haru gratefully accepted the sandwich. "Blech. I don't know why you even eat the stuff."

"Hey, look, you've got yer tastes, I've got mine. Come on, let's get off this road and find ourselves a room at that nice inn."

"Right. Let's." The old tom reached into a pocket of his baggy khaki pants and brought out what appeared to be a strip of cured meat. He offered it to Haru.

"Rat jerky?"

Haru declined.

------oOo------

The two soldiers found their accidental companion a single room at the _Catkin Inn,_ a small establishment in the middle of a town called Twopaws. They stayed in another, and despite the Sergeant's statement that they didn't have much money, somehow managed to bring some cold cuts, a loaf of bread and a pitcher of milk up to her room. She devoured them, then—after the two had bid her goodnight—went back to fretting over the change occurring in her body. She recalled someone previously saying it was permanent. Was it Baron who said that? After an hour she, frazzled and tired, fell asleep, still not knowing how she was ever going to get back home, or—if she was able to—how she was going to deal with humans looking the way she did now.

------oOo------

It took them half a day longer to reach the outskirts of the Castle and its environs. The white building shone in the sunlight like a spectacular jewel, beckoning to Haru, promising her sanctuary. Surely, surely, someone there could help her? King Lune, perhaps, or one of his people?

By now her transformation was complete. She had long since taken to carrying her shoes in a little bag Private Fisher had lent her; they didn't fit her cat feet any more. Her blouse still fit, as did her jacket, but she was forced to make some discreet alteration to her skirt so her tail—a fluffy affair, yellow like the rest of her—could poke through it. It was while trying to wrestle herself into her clothes that Haru realized why cats hated having their tails pulled (it hurt very much), and why some of the chairs in the inn had backs with slots cut out of their lower portions.

"_Niao,_" she said as they approached the main gate of the humungous building. "There seems to be an awful lot of people here."

"Yeah. For some reason King Lune's called up a lot of his soldiers," stated Sergeant Jarashi. "That's why we're here too."

The noncom and the private led her to up to the entrance. The two cats in gleaming plastrons and shiny helmets standing to either side crossed their halberds in front of it, blocking their progress.

"State your business," said one.

Sergeant Jarashi answered for all of them. The instant he mentioned Haru's name and that she was a human looking for some help, the guards removed their polearms and waved Haru through. Only Haru. As Jarashi and Fisher tried to follow, the guard who had remained silent put his paw up. His partner spoke into an ear-mike, evidently reporting the arrival.

"Not you two. All soldiers are to report to their respective units." The guard pointed to the barracks-and-parks complex that had replaced the previous Cat King's demolished spire. "You'll find your places there."

Fisher was about to protest, but Jarashi pulled on his arm and nodded. As they were about to go away, Haru ran back to them, thanking them for all their help.

"'Tweren't nothing, Miss Haru," said Fisher, smiling. "Just kinda mention our names to King Lune, will ya?"

"I sure will," Haru assured him. "And don't worry, I'll find some way to pay you back."

"Ah, that's not important–" Jarashi began.

"Miss Haru!"

The trio looked up to see a brownish cat with floppy ears, clothed in a blue jacket with poofy sleeves, running towards them from the side entrance.

"Natoru-san!" Haru exclaimed. From Muta and the twins she had learned that the Assistant Secretary she had picked up by the scruff and pressed against the metal fence at school three years ago was now Lune's secretary, replacing the older Natori, who had opted to resign his position and continue serving Lune's father. The former Cat King had retired to his and Lune's ancestral duchy and was living a quiet life for now.

Natoru caught up with them. "Oh, Miss Haru," he said, panting, "I am very glad to see you here. It seems Fate has been kind and sent you here immediately, along with that other lady."

Haru raised her eyebrows. "What other lady?"

Natoru's eyebrows raised in return. "You mean you didn't come here together?"

"No. I was alone, and these two gentlemen—er, cats—helped me."

"Ah, yes. King Lune was expecting this sort of thing to happen." Natoru fished out a large bag from the interior of his jacket. "Here you go. A reward for helping this friend of the King." As he handed it over Haru could hear the contents clinking.

Jarashi accepted the bag and opened it. A yellow shine twinkled in his and Fisher's eyes as they stared upon the gold coins thus revealed.

"His Majesty is too generous!" Jarashi exclaimed, unable to hide his amazement.

"No, he's not," Fisher said in a lower volume, a comment which earned him an immediate elbow in the stomach from the Sergeant.

"Pay no attention to him," Jarashi quickly covered. "Please tell the King that we are very grateful."

Natoru nodded, and the two soldiers bowed and left. As they walked back across the bridge spanning the castle moat, Haru thought she heard them already arguing over what to do with the _gelt_ they received. She wondered why they'd been so kind to her. _I guess I shouldn't lose my faith in men so easily,_ she thought, smiling to herself.

"Miss Haru, please follow me," Natoru prompted. She did so, after being told by the guards to leave her epée with them.

Natoru led her into the depths of the Cat King's Castle. Now at relative ease, Haru admired its vaulting architecture and grand decoration, something she couldn't have done on her previous visit since she was, well, preoccupied at the time.

"Natoru-san?" Haru spoke as they entered what appeared to be an elevator.

"Yes?"

"Well, you can see the state I'm in now. Is there any chance King Lune can help me?"

"I'm sure the court physician can do something for you," replied the secretary cat. "Ever since your visit here the King has thought such an event might happen again, and made some preparations against that day." He pressed a button, and a pair of cream-yellow doors closed in front of them.

"Where are we going?"

"To see a friend of yours."

Haru's heart skipped a beat. "You mean Baron?"

"Yes." The lift began to rise.

Haru noted the look on the Secretary's face. She had always thought the smile was fixed on it, but the seriousness emanating from him now was both visible and palpable.

"Natoru... is there anything wrong?"

The moment the cat bowed his head Haru knew something was amiss.

"Yes," Natoru whispered. "Yes, Miss Haru, something is terribly wrong. You see, we fear the Baron von Jikkingen is dying."

------oOo------

The moment the tall doors to the bedroom—vast but empty, save for some pieces of furniture—opened, Haru ran towards the supine figure on the bed.

"Baron!" she shouted. "Baron! I'm here!"

She stopped short as the two people already at Baron's bedside looked up at her. One was a woman about her own age, with short, straight black hair, holding a hand of the Cat in her own. She was seated on a maroon-upholstered Queen Anne-style chair. Behind her stood a pale, lanky young man with disheveled black hair, in green polo and jeans. He had rubber shoes on, while the woman wore dark brown sandals, in addition to a simple white sundress.

Humans! But how come they weren't turning into cats? Had they just arrived in this world?

"_Uguu,_" Haru noised. "Are-are you friends of his?"

"We are," replied the woman. "Well, I am, mostly. My husband–"

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the figure on the bed, which moaned and stirred. Haru hurriedly took the side opposite the couple. She noted the strange dark gray color of the Baron's fur, but dismissed it as unworthy of further thought.

The eyes she knew so well opened. They were glazed, fever-bright, and as they looked at her, then the other woman, the Cat uttered a few words she couldn't understand.

"Baron?" Haru took the hand lying on the coverlet in her paws. "It's me. It's Haru. Remember me?" She stared into his eyes, hoping by main force of will to make him recognize and greet her. "Natoru-san, what's he saying?"

The Secretary, who had come up to the foot of the bed, shook his head sadly. "'Ah, the daughters of the Erl-King are here, come to take me away.' That's what he's saying, Miss Haru, Miss Shizuku. 'They are so beautiful.'" Natoru covered his eyes with a forepaw, as if shielding them from the sunlight streaming in from the large open windows. "'Very, very beautiful.'"

Underneath her fur Haru blanched as fear squeezed her heart. She felt as if her breath had been stolen away from her.

"What's wrong with him?" she cried. "Can't you make him any better?"

"We've been trying to do so for the last two days. He's been poisoned. We can't find an antidote."

"Poisoned?" asked the woman Natoru called Shizuku-ojousama. "How terrible! Who did it?"

"It's a long story. Suffice it is to say that the Baron was hurt while protecting King Lune from a most nefarious criminal."

The doors to the bedroom opened again, and a short-muzzled, dark-gray cat in regal robes and with a golden circlet on his head entered. "How is he?" His voice carried across the room, clear as a bell.

"No better, Your Highness," answered Natoru, bowing. "May I introduce the Lady Shizuku and her husband Sir Seiji Amasawa, and the Lady Haru Yoshioka. As per your instructions I brought them up here as soon as we had got word of them."

The King came up to the bed, looking curiously at the yellow-furred cat in the unusual clothes standing by Baron. "Miss Haru? Is that you?"

"Yes, Lune. I mean, King Lune." Haru stroked Baron's hand. "What happened? How'd Baron get to be like this?"

Lune looked soberly at the figure in the bed. "I will tell you." He gathered his thoughts and began to speak.


	6. The Cat's Ruse

THE CAT'S RUSE

Three days before, two travelers, one a figurine come to life and the other a raccoon dog from Tokyo, disembarked from the Nekobus Kitty, just beyond the end of the bridge that led to the main entrance of the Cat King's Castle.

Shoukichi, in his _tanuki_ form, whistled as he looked up at the fairy-tale structure. "That's some building. I sure wouldn't mind living there."

"Not I," said Baron. "At least, not alone."

They made their way, bags and all, to the guardhouse at the end of the bridge, where the gatekeeper asked them the reason for their being there. Baron replied that he wished to speak to the King, and was told to get in line with the rest of the people wanting admittance into the castle.

The queue was about a block long; fortunately, though, it moved regularly, and after about an hour and a half Baron and Shoukichi were allowed into the throne room where King Lune and Queen Yuki sat in attendance.

Queen Yuki, upon seeing him, was amazed that he had waited in line with everyone else. "You should have told the guard who you were," the cat with the snow-white fur said. "That would've gotten you here far sooner."

"No, I don't think I had the right to do that, Your Highness," Baron said, straightening up from his bow and tucking his top hat under an arm.

"Very well, then. Why have you come here, Baron Humbert von Jikkingen of the Cat Business Office? It's very unusual to find one from your agency here."

"Indeed it is, Your Majesty. I came not on business of the Bureau but for personal reasons, to consult with you about the Lonely Isles."

The change of expression on Lune's face was remarkable. It became guarded; Lune ran his eyes around the throne room and asked, "The Lonely Isles? What about them?"

Baron couldn't help noticing it, but since he didn't know the reason behind the change in Lune's demeanor, he forged on. He told the King of his search for Louise, and asked if he could somehow arrange passage to the Isles.

"What do you want to do there?" asked Lune.

"I'd like to speak with those of the Phaecis Gang, Highness."

A wave of murmuring rose from those assembled in the room at the Baron's audacity. One didn't simply turn up at the Pirate King's door and ask for admittance, one bystanding wag told another. Nor did the said person usually return home afterwards.

King Lune leaned forward and motioned for Baron to come closer. "I will have you sent to a room. Wait for me there. I think we can be of use to each other."

------oOo------

"Assassination!" Shoukichi all but shouted. "Why? Who is this thief anyway?"

"The reign of the Black Cat started back in the days of my father," Lune explained. He and Baron and Shoukichi were in an empty drawing-room, sitting at a table recently laden with food. Outside the door, two of his black-suit-and-tie Secret Service cats stood guard. Lune had appeared just two hours after he had sent Baron and Shoukichi there, and Baron guessed whatever he wanted to talk to him about was of the utmost importance, considering that he had canceled the rest of his daily audience with the people for it.

"Before she came along there was always the Phaecis Gang roaming the coasts, raiding and stealing, but they weren't that much of a problem. It somehow amused my father to have the Navy sending their tails running helter-skelter all over the littoral." He sighed. "Little did we know that we would rue the day we failed to eliminate them."

"The Black Cat came upon us, unawares, one winter's night. Her presence was first reported during a raid by the Phaecis Gang on a major coastal city. What each party got out of their heinous alliance we couldn't tell then, and we still can't now. It appears to be that the thief gets a share of the Phaecis Gang's loot, and they provide the muscle to make her schemes possible."

"The year before Haru was brought here by my father things got really bad. My father beefed up the coastal garrisons and somehow managed to place a detachment of troops on the Lonely Isles themselves, but the Black Cat and the Phaecis Gang continued to stage raid after successful raid on the coastal towns and cities. Money, gems, taxes, valuable pieces of art, even livestock were stolen. On some occasions the Black Cat would pull off a heist all by her lonesome, slipping through my father's traps like sand through one's fingers. The troops were worse than useless, the people began to complain loudly—there was even talk of revolt, from what I heard—and my father's good sense began to unravel. You recall the state of his mind when you rescued Haru from his clutches, Baron, don't you? You must forgive him; he wasn't always like that. Much of his... condition can be directly attributed to the anxiety he experienced while trying to stop the Black Cat."

"Early last year I started a campaign to rid the kingdom of this menace once and for all. My generals and I planned in secret for a long time, and twice this year we have managed to score victories against them, capturing many of the Phaecis Gang and preventing them from carrying out other depredations against the people of the coast. The number of pirate raids has gone down by over seventy percent, and I was hoping to continue this successful avenue of action when last month someone painted a threat on the castle gates. How they did it, no one knows. My guards saw nothing and heard nothing, but in the morning there it was, in great red letters." King Lune held his paws up, as if framing a message. "'Stop your pressure on us or we will be forced to eliminate you, King Lune.' The sods even had the audacity to sign 'Love, the Phaecis Gang' at the bottom."

"What did you do then, King Lune?" asked Shoukichi.

"Why, I ignored it, of course. I even had it proclaimed everywhere that I wouldn't give in to a bunch of ruffians. I kept my word, and the week after I sent that message we foiled another scheme by them to steal a precious artifact from the town of Katrice. Then, just last week, there was another message, written on a piece of paper and stuck to the back of my throne."

"What did it say?" Baron asked.

"I think I can guess," Shoukichi interjected, making a face.

"It said 'Bye-bye, Your Majesty. We gave you fair warning.' Since then I have beefed up security around the palace. It's not so much myself I'm worried about, as Yuki. Knowing the Black Cat as I do, I don't think it would be above her to strike at me through the one I love."

Baron rapped the surface of the table with his knuckles. "Well, there is that. But tell me, did they say _when_ they were going to eliminate you, King Lune?"

"Not explicitly, but there was a comment included with the threat: 'We hear the Midsummer Harvest Festival this year's going to be a doozy.'"

"Ah. A not-so-subtle hint, I should say."

"Yes. And as I'm supposed to open it tomorrow..."

"That'd be a perfect time for them to strike," concluded Shoukichi.

Baron nodded. "But now that you're forewarned... you've got your soldiers and your Secret Service bodyguards, King Lune. What would you want from me?"

"Simple. I would like to engage your services, Baron, as an added layer of security for myself and Yuki. A wild card, as it were, to throw into the mix where the Black Cat would suspect none. In exchange, I would extend support for your voyage to the Isles." Lune's eyes shone with an eager gleam. "I also have a plan on how we might stop her once and for all, if you're interested."

The Baron raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, let us hear it, then."

------oOo------

Midsummer Harvest Festival was opened by the Cat King in the town near the castle. This year's promised to be particularly successful, since the inhabitants were grateful to Lune for providing them with the jetsam from the demolition of the damaged tower, enabling them to repair their homes, to make them stronger and drier. Other than that, it was business as usual.

Except for the almighty skirmish which occurred during the opening ceremonies.

Shortly after King Lune had made his speech and declared the festival underway someone started a fight in the crowd. As guardsmen and cat constables tried to pry them apart, friends on both sides of the fray joined in. Within minutes there was a large mass of struggling felids in the square where the ceremonies were being held, yelling and shouting imprecations, pulling and beating on each other with a gusto that made the King shake his head.

Then smoke bombs were hurled towards the throne. Acrid-smelling gray clouds quickly dispersed and hid the ruler of the Cat Country from sight. The King's guards and Secret Service protectors sought to close in and form a protective ring around him, but their efforts were hampered by the opaque smoke, which stung their eyes and deadened their sense of smell.

"'Protect the King!" came the shouts. "Protect the King! 'Ware all threats!"

The situation got so out of hand that the bodyguards started to lead the King back to his carriage for a quick getaway. One of them, a massive tom wearing the Secret Service's characteristic black coat, white shirt and black tie, pulled his charge after him and managed to make his way to the four-wheeler. He yanked the door open and found a compatriot sitting on the plush bench seat, his legs stretched out in front of the door.

"Out of the way," he growled. "We've got to get His Majesty out of here." He gave the other cat a tug on the sleeve.

The agent fell headlong out of the carriage. He was unconscious.

As the shocked Secret Service cat knelt down to find out if his fellow was still alive, a heeled boot came down hard on the back of his neck. He arched his back in agony, then slumped on top of his colleague.

"Oh, dear," came the contralto as a figure clad in tight black leather emerged from the carriage. "Did I step on something? How clumsy of me."

One could easily mistake her for a distaff, feline version of Zorro or a bizarre escapee from a Frank Frazetta painting. Tall and lank as the King himself, with fur of a solid creamy light brown color and a body dressed all in black, from the mirrored-eye mask covering her face, to her gloves and leather artilleryman's jacket, with its three rows of obsidian buttons holding up the front panel, and leather leggings and boots with two-inch heels and uppers that reached up to mid-thigh, to even the sheathed smallsword hanging at her hip, the Black Cat was without a doubt singular in the Cat Kingdom when it came to fashion.

"I'm terribly sorry to have to do this, King Lune, but you leave me and my _katzen_ no choice in the matter." She looked down to check that both Secret Service cats were out of commission, rolling them over with the pointed steel toe of her boot. Her voice hardened. "You shouldn't have been so stupid, Lune. Your country has more than enough wealth to go around."

"I'm afraid that belongs to the hard-working people who earned it," said a voice not the King's. "I'm terribly sorry to have to do this too."

The Black Cat looked up at the King through the drifting gray smoke. Surprise showed in her eyes as she said, "You're not Lune."

"How nice of you to notice," said the figure wearing the crimson and black robes. The Black Cat watched as it flung the garments off to reveal a tuxedo. Then the figure reached under his coattails and produced a disk-like object, which with a single rap against the knuckles popped out to form a top hat. This went on the figure's head, replacing the bejeweled crown previously occupying that station. Then it took the cane which had been hanging from the side of its black pants and held it horizontally in both hands, slowly drawing it apart, bringing out the sword concealed within.

"Baron Humbert von Jikkingen, at your service."

------oOo------

The Black Cat stared for some seconds as von Jikkingen brought out his sword fully, then threw down the scabbard and assumed a ready position, free left hand raised in the air behind him.

"Surrender now and I promise the King will be merciful," said he. "Or take your chances with me. Either way, you will not be allowed to leave this place a free cat."

The Black Cat let out a ringing peal of laughter. "I can't believe this," she said, guffawing. "Von Jikkingen, whatever happened to your lovely ginger fur?"

"Eh?" The Baron's confidence momentarily dipped to zero as he realized that the Black Cat knew him. "I had it dyed to resemble Lune's. Well, come on, don't stand there laughing," he said petulantly. "It did fool you, didn't it?"

"It most certainly did." The Black Cat lowered her fist from her mouth and whipped out her own sword. She was a left-hander, the nobleman noted. "It's been ages, Baron." She covered the distance between them in one surprisingly powerful leap. Baron parried her thrust and stepped aside.

"I beg your pardon, Madam," he said as he riposted, discomfited by the familiarity with which she addressed him. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of being introduced to you." Something nagged at the back of his mind; he was too busy endeavoring to read his opponent's body language to try and figure out what it was.

As the Black Cat avoided his sword, she sweep-kicked at Baron's legs, trying to knock him off his feet. "Oh, dear. Where _are_ my manners? Most people know my _nom de guerre._ I thought you would too."

Baron leapt up and backward to avoid the kick. "So you won't tell me your real name? You must excuse me. King Lune only recently made me acquainted with Your Ladyship's history." He dashed forward and sliced at his opponent with an upward cut.

The spitfire in leather deflected his stroke to her left. "And probably colored it too. I shall have to speak to him, he's forever doing that. Takes after his father." She spun about, catching Baron on the cheek with a vicious backhand, sending him staggering back and falling onto the seat of his pants. As she did so, however, the Cat's push-kick landed on her rump, sending her sprawling onto the grass.

Baron quickly got up and shook the stars out of his eyes. "Yes, well, I hear he's been pretty successful against you and your gang lately."

The Black Cat rolled and stood up, rubbing her posterior and raising the tip of her sword to eye level while keeping her hand waist-high. Her tail twitched. "Oh, Humbert. I had no idea you were such a cad. Kicking my behind was positively uncalled-for."

The Cat stiffened. "Please, Madam. I object to your use of my given name."

To the Baron's surprise, the thief lowered her blade and stood there looking at him speculatively. "Do you now? Do you find my calling you Humbert offensive?"

"Very much."

The tabby raised her sword again, vertically in front of her face. "There's no reason why you should. Don't you recognize me?"

The thing that had been bothering Baron finally came to the fore, and he froze.

The Black Cat had _hands._ And her legs weren't articulated like normal cat legs were. Because of her words, Humbert von Jikkingen could only think of one other person.

"L-Louise?"

------oOo------

"Yes, dear Humbert. It is I, Louise von Arno, the one you left to rot in the Doctor's cells." With those words the Black Cat recommenced her attack.

To Baron's credit he defended himself perfectly, despite being in such a state of shock that he kept staring unblinking at the thief's masked countenance even as he parried and deflected her blows.

"Louise... Louise..." he kept on muttering as the Black Cat forced him back into the smoke still lingering over the surrounding area.

"What's the matter, Baron?" Louise taunted him. "Surprised to see your old lover?"

"Louise... why?" came the anguished question as the Cat warded off another blow.

"Why? You have to gall to ask why, after leaving me so long in the clutches of that madman?"

"But... I looked everywhere for you but couldn't find you. I never stopped searching!"

"You lie!" The Black Cat aimed a draw cut at Baron's forearms. As he jerked back to avoid it, he stumbled over a rock and fell on his back. Louise's smallsword managed to graze his fingers, causing him to let go of his cane-blade.

Baron lay on the ground, unmoving and dazed, as his long-ago fiancée stood over him and pointed the tip of her sword at his throat.

"Now I pay you back for all the hurt you caused me," she snarled. The sword tip descended and began to press against Baron's skin.

"Baron!"

The cry caused both von Jikkingen and Louise to look up. Charging toward them, with a longsword in his hand, was King Lune, still dressed in his ceremonial robes.

Louise quickly moved to deal with the new threat, and Baron rolled away as she stepped off him. He grabbed his sword, ignoring the sting in his hand, and watched as the Black Cat slashed at King Lune.

"No! Shoukichi!"

The blade caught the disguised _tanuki_ on the forearm. Shoukichi yelled in pain and let go of his sword, sinking to his knees and changing back to his animal self even as Louise aimed at his heart and prepared to dispatch him.

She never got the chance. Baron caught her with a flying tackle, knocking her sword aside, sending the two of them rolling on the grass.

The Cat ended up straddling her at the waist. He was angry; it was one thing to be devastated by the sudden reappearance of his old love as a villainous thief, but it was another to see one of his friends harmed in any way. He thought of Shoukichi's human family back home in the real world, and of his responsibility, and was thankful the adventurous _tanuki_ was still alive.

Baron tore Louise's mask off and looked down at her face, receiving final confirmation of her identity as he looked down at her large teal eyes and her very short blond hair. Her shorn mane saddened him immensely: he used to love running his fingers through her tresses. Then he raised his hand and slapped her.

"You insane woman! Why are you doing this? Why?" He grabbed her by the jacket and started lifting and slamming her into the ground. "Why? Why? _Why?_"

The Baroness waited until he had stopped trying to drive her into the earth. "If I tell you why, Humbert, we'd still be here after night had fallen and the stars had come out in the sky. That's how long my list of grievances against you is." Louise swallowed. "If you only knew all that has happened to me... If only I could make you feel how bitter I was when I waited day after day after endless day in the Doctor's dark dungeons and you never appeared... many times I tried to escape and was caught and tortured for it. Baron, the awful things he did to me..." Louise closed her eyes, turned her face aside and sobbed. Tears started falling down the side of her face and her muzzle. "Kill me, please! I'm damaged goods now... my soul will never be free of the darkness. I would rather have death by your hand than this bitterness I taste every day."

"Louise..." Baron looked down at her and his heart softened. Perhaps, he thought, there was still some chance to retrieve and reform this person whom he loved. "I'm sorry."

"Please, no time for that," the tabby beneath him said. "You must kill me before he comes back. He's inside me now, Humbert. I will never be free of him. You must kill me now!"

"No, I can't do that." Baron stood up and pulled her to her feet. "Anything's possible, now that we're together. I will help you any way I can."

"You don't..." Something seemed to make Louise change her mind. "Oh, how I want to believe you, _liebchen_. Humbert?" she asked shyly.

"Yes?"

"May I?" A slight puckering of the lips told Baron what she wanted.

Baron nodded and Louise girlishly put her hands behind her back, leaned towards him and gave him a kiss. It was a fleeting, tentative one, and when they finished it turned into the crushing embrace of two lovers, long separated, but now together again.

Only Shoukichi, who still knelt on the grass watching the two while cradling his injured arm, saw the unholy glitter in the Black Cat's eyes just before she drove the dirk hidden in her hand into the Baron's side.

* * *

**Author's Postscript:** I am assuming that since Nishi Shirou got Baron from 'a faraway town in' Germany, the Cat and Louise would know how to speak Deutsch. 


	7. Kanojo no Ongaeshi

KANOJO NO ONGAESHI

King Lune shook his head. "By the time my men discovered him he had already lost a lot of blood. And, to our shame, we let the Black Cat escape in the confusion and panic, not to mention the Phaecis Gang who had aided her and staged the fight as a diversion."

"Where were you then, Your Highness?" asked Haru.

"I was in the castle, where Baron insisted I stay. I watched his whole act through a telescope until my view was blocked by the smoke. You know, he would've been a fine actor, if his thoughts had ever strayed the way of the stage."

Baron moved his head. "Are my eyes deceiving me?" he said weakly. "Is this little Shizuku, who visited me in Chikyuuya, and went with me on a long journey?"

"Sir Cat!" said Shizuku. "Yes, it's me. I never dreamed I'd meet you like this..." She picked up his hand and pressed it against her cheek. "Don't go, Sir Cat. If you do you'll make me very unhappy."

"And you'll make _me_ unhappy, Baron!" Haru cried. "What's going to happen to Muta and Toto if you leave them?" She squeezed his hand with her paw.

The Baron blinked. "Haru? I see you're quite the fetching feline now. Don't worry, they can take care of themselves. King Lune?"

"Here, Baron."

"Where is Shoukichi?"

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but he vanished a couple of hours ago. He left us a note which said he was going to track the Phaecis Gang down."

Baron coughed. "Oh, the fool! He was always letting his heart rule his head. What will I ever tell his wife and children if something happens to him... Shizuku, please don't cry."

"But after the horrible thing the Baroness did to you..." Shizuku put her forehead down on the edge of the bed. Seiji put a hand on her back and stroked it softly.

"You still love her after that?" Haru asked. "You'd better hope I not see her in front of me in a shop full of long pointy things."

Smiling, Baron gave Haru's paw a brief press. "Alas, Haru, I'm not a perfect machine yet, and love is more a complicated affair than you set it out to be. I can be just as guilty as my friend the raccoon dog is, sometimes. I just wish my questions would be answered before I go..."

"You're not going!" Haru insisted, trying her best not to start blubbing as the Baron lapsed into unconsciousness again. "You're not going, Baron! I'll never forgive you if you do!" She turned a pleading look towards King Lune. "Please... is there nothing you can do for him?"

"We're doing all we can," King Lune said, trying to reassure her. "The problem, according to the Royal Physician's Office, is that the Baron is an... anomaly. He's not fully a cat, and yet he doesn't have the complete physiology of a human either. We've tried several medicines on him. Some, like the antibiotics, worked well. Others have had strange effects. We think he's the one who brought you ladies here, for example."

"What? How could that be?"

"Well, one of the antidotes we administered to him seemed to give him magical powers..." Lune told them about how the furniture that used to be in the room Baron was in suddenly began levitating shortly after the dose was given to him, then crashing into the walls, and how the Cat himself rose several feet off the bed, crying out Shizuku's and Haru's names amid crackles and rumbles of sudden thunder.

"Well, that could explain why we suddenly poofed here," said Seiji. He did not voice his puzzlement over the way Shizuku's pneumonia had vanished completely. She was still very weak, though. He was already carrying her on his back by the time a patrol of cat constables encountered them on a road some miles out in the countryside and, seeing that they were humans, brought them to the Cat King's Castle.

"I wonder why he didn't name anyone from the Cat Business Office," Haru said.

"That's why we fear he's dying," piped up Natoru, who had come to stand behind King Lune. When Seiji and Haru cast questioning glances at him, he said, "We think he called you here because he wanted to say goodbye. He told us you were always on his mind."

"No. He's not saying goodbye," came a muffled voice. Everyone looked at everyone else, trying to find out who was speaking. "I won't let him. If I let him die, part of me will go along with him. The time I spent on my journey with him will end up as dust, lost to me forever. I refuse this fate for him."

Shizuku raised her head. The others gasped as they saw the eerie glow in her eyes. The _Engel's Zimmer_ was back in full force again.

"Let go of him," she commanded Haru as she stood up. Haru instinctively obeyed, afraid of the stern look on the older woman's face, and her fulgent eyes.

Shizuku reached over to take Baron's far hand in her own. Then, holding both of his hands in hers, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. A faint humming pervaded the room, and everyone held their breath. They knew something out of the ordinary even for the Cat Kingdom was going on.

Shizuku threw her head back and collapsed into Seiji's arms. To everyone's surprise she began to disappear from sight, fading like a cloud stuck over a desert on a windless day.

"_Anata!_" Her voice was small and frightened, and her eyes—now normal—looked beseechingly at her husband's as she tried to comprehend what was happening to her.

"Shizuku-chan!" Seiji wrapped his arms tighter around her. "What's going on?" he asked the others, who could only remain mute, as they were just as mystified as he was. He saw his arms begin to sink into her incorporeal body and began to panic. "Shizuku-chan!"

Just then the Baron regained consciousness and looked up at Haru.

"Haru," he said in a weak but clear voice. "_Grossmächtige Prinzessin, mögst du nicht Schmerz durch meinen Tod gewinnen._" Then the yellow orbs closed. A wave of dread washed over Haru's heart as she wondered if this time would be the last.

She quickly motioned for Natoru to translate, which the Secretary did, albeit very unwillingly.

"'Mighty Princess, mayest thou come to no sorrow through my death,'" Natoru intoned as fast as he could, to get it over with.

"Oh, Baron," Haru keened. "No, no, no..." Struck hard with several nasty surprises in a row the past few hours, her mind took the only refuge it could. The last thing her senses registered was Lune shouting for help as her legs folded under her and she fell to the floor in a dead faint.

------oOo------

"You know, I'm starting to like this place. When there isn't any dying or fighting going on it actually looks as pretty as a picture in a postcard."

So said Shizuku Amasawa to her husband a day later, as they stood looking out at the countryside from one of the circular balconies that graced the castle.

"Yeah. I think I'd stay here for a year or so, if I could. At least our time is our own to spend." Seiji cautiously looked around, then put an arm across Shizuku's shoulders. "But that Haru Yoshioka, I wonder if she doesn't need to go back home."

"Ah, she's a grown-up, _anata._ Let her do what she wants."

Right now the lass they were talking about was in Baron's bedroom, still sitting beside him and quietly talking with him. All it had taken to make things look up again was a bit of patience; after Haru had fainted Shizuku had returned to solidity as inexplicably as she had faded out before. And what Baron had believed to be his final sally was in fact merely the prelude to a long sleep. When Lune's doctors arrived and checked on him, they discovered that the suppurating wound in his side had closed and was well on the way to healing completely, and his vital signs had returned to normal. The only explanation they could think of, fantastic as it sounded, was that Shizuku had somehow cured him of his poisoning. The writer absorbed that fact with a smile, just before she said she was tired and fell asleep, still cradled in Seiji's arms.

Haru had been left on the floor in the meantime, with a pillow under her head to keep her comfortable, while the Cat King's staff effected a quick change and got two other rooms ready. Then she was placed in one, and Shizuku and Seiji taken to another. Both were on the same castle level as Baron's, and the impressed King told them they could stay as long as they wanted, as his guests.

Seiji, after some reservation about whether people back in the real world would be worrying about them, accepted for himself and his wife. The exotic quality of this world's inhabitants, the pastoral surroundings, the sights, smells, and sounds, they all served to awaken the artist in him once again. He wanted to drink in the vistas, the brown fields and waving flowers and blue sky; he wanted to feel the earth under his feet, wanted to see where the roads in this world led to, with his wife by his side. There was no way he was simply going to leave without making this magical country partly his. He knew Shizuku would feel the same. She had that quality about her, of being able to possess things and make them her own, of crafting whole worlds out of the most mundane things, and of creating imaginary places and people and making them seem real to those who read her works. He sometimes saw her, sitting at her table, lost in thought, her eyes staring out the window into the night, and understood that she was not really there; she was traveling, communing in spirit with something only she could conceive and comprehend, a minor god engrossed in the music of the spheres. Whenever he disturbed her while she was like that she would get irritated and snap at him, but he always forgave her, since he behaved in much the same manner while fashioning a violin or painting a picture.

Thus, almost everything had turned out aright after all. Even Haru had had a bit of good luck: when she woke up in her bedroom during the night, a hearty, human-consumable meal awaited her along with a reddish, bitter drink in a carafe, which Natoru told her would turn her back into a human. The process would take a day or two. Haru didn't mind: waiting for 24 or 48 hours was preferable to staying a cat permanently, and she had to drink the vile concoction only once, as its effects would last until she went back to her own world. Haru understood from the Secretary's explanation that King Lune was bestowing a great boon on her, for the potion was very difficult to procure, as it was impossible to make in the Cat Kingdom and had to be imported at great expense from another world.

Baron, too, was fine, except that his struggle with the fever had left him weak. While Shizuku and Seiji were lovey-dovey on the balcony, he was struggling to get off his bed, and Haru was trying to stop him.

"Don't be so hard-headed," she admonished. "Baron, even you need to rest after what you've just undergone." She was acting as his nursemaid now; she even looked the part, being clothed in a peasant-style dress Natoru had found for her in the Castle's ample stock of clothing.

"No... I have to get up," he insisted. "I mustn't let this setback get the better of me. I must look for the Black Cat. I must–"

Haru pushed him back on the bed. "I can't believe you're killing yourself to find a queen who just tried to murder you," she said in disbelief. "You're resting, and that's final. If you fall, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to lift you back onto the bed. Besides," she added, playing her last card, "what if you get a relapse? Are you going to ask Shizuku-sensei to risk her life again for you?"

Baron stopped trying to sit up. He let out a great sigh and relaxed against the pillows.

"Alright, have it your way," he acquiesced, panting a little. "But as soon as I'm strong enough I'm going to the Isles to find her."

Haru took the washcloth on the tray by the bed and began wiping his forehead carefully. "And then what?"

"And then... she and I will have a little talk." Through his eyes Haru could discern the turbulent emotions lurking beneath his composed expression.

"What'll you talk about?"

"Haru, is this interrogation of yours really necessary?" Baron said, perhaps a little more harshly than was intended.

"Sorry. I just can't understand two things: why she should try to kill you after recognizing it was you and not King Lune, and why you still insist on going after her." She moved her attention and the washcloth to his hands.

Baron pushed himself into a more upright position and unfastened the top buttons of his white long-sleeved shirt. He wore that and his pants, while his vest, coat and other accoutrements were stored in a nearby cabinet. "Well, I had it from her that she was bitter because I wasn't able to save her from the Doctor who kidnapped her. And as for the second..." The Cat's voice faded into the silence of the room.

Haru stopped her ministrations. "You still love her, don't you?"

Baron turned his head away from her, turned to look out the windows at the sunny sky and bucolic countryside.

"I guess I understand," she said. "Something similar happened between me and my boyfriend just before I was brought here to the Kingdom. We had a huge fight about... well, we had a huge fight, and even though I hate his guts right now, I still find that I care for him. A stupid thing love is, _neh,_ Baron?"

"Yes, Haru. And being a slave to it is the worst thing I can imagine." Baron's hands clenched. "There are so many things I need to ask her. She's so near now, and yet still too far, like she's always been..."

"Baron? I'd like to ask you a favor."

"What?"

"I want to go with you to the Lonely Isles, if you'll let me. Oh, please let me," she continued just as he was about to speak. "Shizuku-sensei has already helped you by healing you. I still have to return the favor I owe you."

"I'm sorry, Haru, I can't allow it. It's a very dangerous place, and not only because of the pirate gang and the Black Cat."

"The Baroness Louise, you mean."

Baron twisted his head and looked up at Haru. His eyes flashed. "No, I don't consider them to be one and the same. That villain is not the same woman I was made with all those years ago. She's not the one I was supposed to marry."

The vehemence of his speech took Haru aback. "But Baron, she _is–_"

"No!" The Cat made a short chopping motion with his left hand. "Somewhere deep inside the Black Cat is my Louise, and I'm going to find her and bring her back, like I intended to all these years."

Haru sat frozen in her seat for a second. Then she gently wiped Baron's cheek with the washcloth, set it back on the tray, stood up, and silently padded out of the room.

_Fine,_ she huffed as she shut the door behind her. _You want to live in that illusory world of yours, be my guest. I won't be the one to try and open your eyes to the truth._ Another part of her mind worried about the hurt the Baron would receive, if he ever learned that he was wrong and it was his Louise who had tried to kill him.

------oOo------

Three days passed, and neither the Amasawas nor Haru showed any inclination to go back home. In the meantime their stay in the castle had been rendered more mirthful by the arrival of Toto and Muta, to whom Baron had sent a message, to join him in the Cat Kingdom.

When Shizuku had first laid eyes on Muta (on the balcony where they frequently spent the mornings and late afternoons), she stared at his considerable bulk in amazement, then hesitantly offered her hand. "Neko-kun! I can't believe it's you! I wish I knew you were really part of this. And... hehe, I didn't really mean what I said to you back then, that you were uncute."

Muta stared down, nonplussed, at the young woman in the white dress. He took her hand and shook it. "Not a problem, Miss Shizuku, I've already forgotten it," he said. "It's nice to meet you again after all this time. Are you happy with Seiji? 'Cause if you aren't, I can beat him up for you. Just say the word."

"Hey!" Seiji barked. "This is what I get after feeding you all these years, even though you were just a visitor in Chikyuuya?"

"Just joking, Master Seiji." Muta did his best approximation of a grin, but at the sight of his wide, sharp-toothed smile, Seiji swallowed and retreated a step or two backwards.

Toto the crow sighed. "Muta, please. The man's right, you know. That's no way for you to show your gratitude. After all, think of all the tons of food it must have taken–" Toto flew off the railing as Muta lunged at him.

Shizuku laughed. "This is so wonderful! I feel as though I'm living in a dream, and I never want to wake from it." She stopped as she saw Muta and Seiji looking at her curiously.

"What? What did I say?"

"Do I look like a dream to you?" said Muta through slitted eyes, pointing to himself with a paw.

"Does _this_ feel like a dream to you?" Seiji asked, pinching her derriere.

Shizuku jumped and colored. "Ow! Pervert! How could you do that to me, in front of these strangers?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say I was a stranger to your love life," Muta said slyly. "I've seen you two doing some pretty risqué stuff in Chikyuuya's back rooms and attic." He turned his back on them and put his arms around himself, running his paws up and down the sides of his body, miming kissing someone. "Mmmh... oh, Seiji..."

Seiji joined his wife in presenting a matched pair of blushing faces to the immensely pleased Muta as he turned around. "Hey!" they chorused.

"Neko-kun!" protested Shizuku, unconsciously drawing closer to her husband and putting her arm around him. "You're awful!"

"I knew I should've kicked you out of the shop when _ojii-san_ wasn't looking!"

"Ah, but you didn't. That should teach you to be more discreet in choosing where to neck."

"As if I knew you could talk and were watching us," said Seiji hotly. "I lived there more than you did, so if I wanted to neck there–" His rant was interrupted by Shizuku's prompt heel on his toes.

"Moon," she said as her husband bounced up and down beside her on one foot, clutching the other in his hands, "please don't tell on us to anyone else."

"Why not? You two are already married, so why be embarrassed about it?"

"Because!" Shizuku shouted, just about ready to die from the mortification. She stamped her foot. "Just because! Oh, I wish we knew some of _your_ secrets too, so we could spread them around and embarrass you."

"And I can help you there!" Toto landed on Muta's head, between his ears.

"Hey! Get off me, crow!" Muta swiped at Toto, but the bird deftly avoided his paw with a little jump, causing it to swish by harmlessly beneath him.

"You know, when he was still new to the Bureau," he revealed as he continued to dodge Muta's attempts to get him off his noggin, "Muta actually fell in love with a dog."

"What?" said Seiji in disbelief.

"Yes, she was a cute little thing." Hop. "You should've seen him following her around like a lovesick loon. It's just too bad she broke off–" skip "–their relationship because lard-belly here stood her up on a date–" jump "–to go to a convention displaying new fancy-mice species. Where, naturally, he ate the mice, causing all the breeders to break down and cry."

"Oh, Moon," Shizuku giggled.

"Toto, I'm warning you!" Again Muta batted at the bird, and still his RBI remained .000.

"You think that was bad, wait till you hear about the one concerning the catnip and a packed-to-capacity concert in the Tokyo Dome..."

"Alright! That's it!" Muta stopped swiping at Toto and faced Shizuku and Seiji. "I won't spread rumors about you two, if old stone-brain here will just stop talking about the mistakes an innocent tom made during his younger years."

"Sounds like a fair deal to me," the crow agreed, winking at Shizuku, and the treaty was signed and settled.

"Just between you and me," Seiji whispered to his former-itinerant-pet-turned-giant as Toto and Shizuku were busy talking to each other some minutes later, "what _did_ you see, hmm?"

Muta looked down at him. "Nothing scandalous. I just saw you and Miss Shizuku kissing and hugging, that's all. I was just messing with your mind."

"But then that means... Toto! Let's hear some more of those stories about Moon!"

"Hey, no fair! Remember the agreement!"

------oOo------

About an hour later, as they were joined by a freshly-bathed and fully-human Haru, the group took their lunch on the balcony, at a large table covered by a gigantic umbrella. Cat servants set a smorgasbord on the table, then attended to their every little want. To Muta's credit, he didn't complain about the 'meager' portions that were being served.

"Where's Baron?" Toto asked as he fastened his beak around a boiled fish on his plate.

"He's downstairs, in King Lune's throne room," answered Haru. "He was going to join us, but as we were about to come up here Natoru called him away. It seemed important."

"I wonder what it was about." Toto slid the fish down his gullet.

"It's too bad we didn't arrive in time to see you as a cat, Haru," commented Muta.

"But you did see me as one before, remember?"

"Yeah, but you weren't a complete cat then." Muta let out a wolf whistle. "I bet you must've been a sight to see."

"Muta, that's not polite," Toto scolded his Office colleague.

"Lighten up, crow. I meant it in a good way."

"Whatever."

Haru paused in her eating and looked down the close-fitting, peplumed white blouse and long brown skirt she was wearing. "You know, now that I think of it, I guess I should've asked someone to take a picture of me or something. I guess I was too busy and panicky these past few days to think of it."

"I can't blame you," said Shizuku as she cut into her steak. "I'm still adjusting to all this myself. I thought 'The Story the Baron Told Me' was all my invention, when in fact it was a mix of that and being a chronicle. I still don't know whether to feel crestfallen or proud."

"Proud, of course," said Muta emphatically.

"Agreed," said Toto.

"Proud," stated Seiji.

Haru, her mouth full, just nodded. She swallowed her food and beckoned to a nearby attendant, speaking quietly to him and putting her palms together in entreaty. Whatever they talked about, the servant soon inclined his head and left the scene.

"Thank you, everyone," said Shizuku bashfully. She let go of her fork, and it floated in the air where she had been holding it. "I guess that's not the only I thing I can be proud of, now. Just think, Shizuku Amasawa, the Magical Writer! I Fight for Love and Justice!" Seiji made a show of smacking his forehead with his palm; her lips formed into a grin as she grasped the airborne utensil and returned to eating.

"Yes, that's right, dear heart," she ventured. "My own husband, please ridicule me, while the two beside you just smile."

Seiji looked up at Muta and Toto. The two returned his glances with slightly miffed expressions, as if asking him, _How can you demean your wife like that?_

"S-sorry."

Shizuku laughed. "I was just kidding."

Within the space of an hour Baron joined them. He was back in his natural ginger color. Bare-headed, sporting a white, long-sleeved shirt and tan vest, with the ever-present bow tie around his neck and with black shoes on his feet, the Cat appeared at the door and raised his walking-stick—a different one, with a metal knob on the grasping end and straight instead of being curved—in greeting. His gait was slow and his breathing labored, but he walked under his own steam to a place at the table and sat down.

"What's up?" asked Haru, noting the grim expression on his face.

The Baron helped himself to some of the buffet and poured some red wine in his glass before speaking.

"The King is planning on going to war with the pirates," he reported. "He says the assassination attempt was the last straw. I'm inclined to agree with him, but we lack important information about the gang's hideout. Many lives could be lost. Nevertheless, Lune wishes to proceed against them as soon as possible."

"So you mean the Office has decided to help him?" Toto asked.

"Well, yes. I am now formally stating that the Cat Business Office has been engaged by King Lune of the Cat Kingdom to help deal with the Phaecis Gang. And the Black Cat," he amended briefly.

"Pay, Baron," Muta reminded him. "Did you negotiate a fee? What's with the look, Haru? You didn't think the Office was altruistic all the time, did you?"

"Not yet," answered Baron. "They're too busy arguing downstairs. I'll find a quiet moment to speak to him about it later. Did you lock the Office?"

"No," replied Toto. "The twins are looking after it for now."

Just then Queen Yuki and one of her ladies stepped out onto the painted concrete. They were dressed in the same manner as Haru was, except that they had bouffant skirts and the color of their clothes were jewel-like and bright. Her eyes lit up in delight as she saw them.

"No, please, don't get up," she said as everyone attempted to stand in acknowledgement of her presence.

"Your Majesty," Baron greeted her, taking her paw and kissing the tips of her digits.

"May I join you?" asked Yuki. "It's so boring eating alone, and Lune's been in that conference forever."

"Please, join us," said everyone—even Muta, though he did it grudgingly because the Queen's arrival just meant another competitor in wolfing the food down. Seiji pulled out the only remaining empty seat, the one beside his, and Yuki took off her cape and sat down. Her young lady-in-waiting stood by her seat, attending to her, and when she began to eat everyone else resumed their meal.

"Baron," said Haru, "I was wondering. The last time we were here you told me it was always light in this place. How come there are days and nights now?"

"I think I can answer for him," Queen Yuki interposed. "When Lune's father was still the King, his paranoia made him light up the whole countryside within a hundred miles of here, so his guards could spot any intruders better. Lune abolished the practice, so night and day came back again."

Seiji whistled. "So he had magicians?"

"Some. Lune dismissed most of them when he took the throne, since all those cats really wanted was to be left alone to study their arts. There are a few still working in the castle, though, and some in the provinces." Yuki took in a forkful of tuna, then looked at the Cat. "How are you, Baron?"

"I'm fine, Highness. And I'm getting better every day, thanks to Haru's patient tending." Said girl blushed; Baron chuckled and patted her shoulder. "Yes, Haru, I know you wish you could strangle me for my stubbornness, but I'm really grateful for all your attention."

"That's not it," Haru said, so quietly no one except the Cat heard her. _That's not it, Baron. I still don't like the way you're deluding yourself about Louise. Oh, I hope you're not setting yourself up for a fall._

"Haru?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Oh, maybe something. Queen Yuki, is there anyone in the castle who can teach me how to fight with a sword?"

"What?" The white cat's brow-whiskers went up as far as they would go. "Any of the soldiers and guardsmen here can teach you that. But the best choice for such a matter, I think, would be the Swordmaster Gabriel. He used to train Lune's father, and spars with Lune nowadays. He's good at what he does."

"Why would you want to learn how to fight with a sword?" asked Seiji, who along with Shizuku was surprised at Haru's question.

"Oh, nothing much," said Haru, pinching her skirt and mentally bracing herself for the lie that she was about to spew. "I took up fencing, you see, and just wondered if someone could give me more insights into swordplay and teach me a little." She didn't want to add that being stuck in the castle was boring her. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy their company; she just wanted the option available to her, to go out and explore the countryside whenever she wanted, but it had been denied them all by a security-conscious King Lune.

"I'll ask Gabriel about it," Yuki said. "I'm sure he'd be willing to take you under his wing."

"If it's not too much to ask," Baron butted in, "I'd like to see him as well."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because of this," Baron said, gesturing to his side. "I'd like to refresh my knowledge of the art of fighting with a sword. I only get to practice it occasionally, while the Black Cat presumably employs it far more often."

"Baron..." Haru said.

The Cat gave her a sidelong glance but said nothing.

"Then I'll give Gabriel your names," said Yuki. That being said, the party went back to chatting and eating.

------oOo------

Later on, when the meal had finished and everyone had gone to their rooms, Baron spoke to Haru about something that had been bothering him. They were in his bedroom, and were seated in chairs.

"Haru, your asking Yuki about finding someone to teach you swordplay... I know what you're up to. And my answer is still no."

Haru folded her arms in front of her chest. "I no longer care, Baron. If I feel myself capable, I'm going to go with you to the Lonely Isles, whether you like it or not."

"Are you crazy? I'm sorry to have to say this, but you'll just be holding me back."

Haru turned a hurt look on him. "I'm just trying to return a favor. Why can't you be gracious enough and accept it?"

"Because... I don't want to have to be the one who carries your body back to your mother."

"Are you implying that I can't handle it?"

Baron stayed silent.

"Fine! I'll show you, you pompous, overbearing, stuck-up cat! I'll show you who you're really dealing with!" Haru stood up and stormed her way to the doors. "Oh, and you change your dressing today! I'm not going to do it for you!"

As the doors shut, Baron settled back in his seat, placed his elbows on the armrests, and steepled his hands in front of him. _Dear Haru, why can't you see I'm just trying to keep you safe?  
_

------oOo------

Gabriel, it turned out, was a fairly old cat, a calico with a graying muzzle and white sock-patterned paws. He introduced himself that evening to Haru and to Baron, and after talking for a while with them, said they could start any time, as long as King Lune didn't need his services. There was a little verbal maneuvering involved, as neither the Cat nor Haru wanted to speak to each other. Finally they settled on Haru having the first session with Gabriel. He was to lend her some equipment, while Baron said he'd stick to his cane-blade.

That evening, while they were sitting together at one table during dinner, Shizuku began asking Haru how she had met the Baron. Since the Cat was sitting at the same table, Haru's narrative was stilted. Baron, however, speedily finished his dinner and excused himself, saying that he had some things to attend to.

Shizuku saw Haru watch Baron make his way to the royal table. She couldn't help noticing the gradual relaxation of the younger woman's set shoulders. "Um, Haru-chan, is there anything bothering you?"

"Eh? Oh, no, no, Shizuku-sensei. Where was I? Oh, yes, when I saw Muta inside the jar of jelly I screamed because I thought he was already dead..."

Baron happened to glance their way as he was speaking to King Lune. Haru quickly turned her attention back to her food, and Shizuku began to ruminate. The two had barely spoken to each other the whole evening, Haru was obviously uptight, and Baron didn't quite have the _bon vivant_ air he usually had around him.

Her train of thought was broken by Seiji quietly asking her if she'd like to take a stroll later in the gardens at the back of the castle. Visions of flowers and lamps under the starlit sky filled her mind, and Shizuku never got back to pondering on Baron and Haru that night.


	8. The Lady and The Cat

**Author's Trivia for the Day:**

A - Chizuru Ikewaki (Haru Yoshioka's Japanese voice actress) has her official website at chizuru . ikewaki . japan (you know the country code, I suppose).

B - Did you know Youko Honna (Shizuku Tsukishima's Japanese voice actress) was only a year older than movie Shizuku when she played her role in _Whisper of the Heart_? She also voiced 5th-grade Taeko in _Only Yesterday,_ and even had a bit part in _The Cat Returns_ as Chika. She is also the one who sang the Japanese _Country Road_ in the _Mimi _movie.

C - Did you know there are at least two Ghibli in-jokes in _The Cat Returns_? Look at the side of the box chibi-Haru is eating the fish cookies out of. What's written there? 'Morita,' right? That's the director's surname: his full name is Hiroyuki Morita. And according to him, the Crossroad area is set in 'Kajinocho.' What's so special about that? Well, it's the name of the street where Studio Ghibli is located! And that means I'll have to relocate Haru's house somewhere in or near Koganei! Oh, woe is me! But I'll have to do that later.

D - There might—just might, if words 2 years old are to be believed—be a sequel of sorts to _Neko no Ongaeshi._ One can only hope.

* * *

THE LADY AND THE CAT  
_and a little dedication to John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, Mamiko Suzuki and Youko Honna. Thank you._

"Yaaah!"

Bright shafts of early-morning sunlight streamed in through the tall and narrow windows at one end of the hall, outlining the two figures wielding their oversized cutlery pieces. One was a muscled tom in verdigris shirt whose long tail slewed in counterpoint to his movements; the other was a young human woman in specially-tailored pants with 6-layer aramid panels and similarly-equipped pullover. Her dark-brown hair was secured in a ponytail at the back of her head. Both had been engaged in a martial dance for some minutes, alternating between playing the lead and the follower.

Gabriel the Swordmaster jumped to one side, letting Haru's epée slide harmlessly past his chest. He took the opportunity to drive the point of his own waster into the tiled floor, millimeters away from her unshod feet. She froze.

"Better, better. You still disregard your defense too much, and have just lost some of your toes," said the old tom. "But we will beat that tendency out of you." His grin was friendly.

Haru's expression became downcast. "But I have to be much better. I have to."

"That's one thing I'd like to know. Why?"

Haru decided to outline what was going on between her and the Baron. When she had finished she swore him to secrecy.

Gabriel nodded. "What goes on between you two is your business. But at least I know now why the fire in your eyes burns so bright. If you are determined to push through with this, I guess I can help you."

"Let's continue, please. _Onegaishimasu!_" Haru hefted her blade. _I hope Baron isn't going to leave any time soon,_ she thought. _I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to take a while._

------oOo------

The session finished, Haru picked up her equipment and extra clothes and exited the hall. Unbeknownst to her, a figure seated in a chair in one darkened corner of the large room got up as she left and walked towards Gabriel. It was the Baron; he had entered noiselessly while Haru was finishing her meeting with the Swordmaster and taken up position there. His shoes pit-patted against the tiles as he approached the larger cat.

"How is she doing?" he asked softly, removing his tan coat and setting it on the nearby chair Haru's things had previously occupied.

"Passing well, considering that she's never had to fight for her life," said Gabriel. "She's fast and quick-witted."

"Will she be able to keep her head on her shoulders?"

Gabriel considered. "If she keeps her enthusiasm, and if I really push her, she might be able to do so at the end of two weeks."

"Two weeks? I hope the King gives us enough time."

"Why?"

"As soon as all his troops and supplies are here," Baron told Gabriel, "Lune is going to march to the coast and sail for the Isles. He plans to get rid of Phaecis and his gang once and for all."

It was some time before either moved or spoke. "Well," said Baron, breaking the silence, "I do believe it's time for my practice with you." He twisted open his cane.

------oOo------

Haru lingered in the bathtub in her bathroom and let the hot water drain the aches of her body away. Soaking herself in a hot tub was a luxury she didn't have time for very often these days, because of her busy schedule, but it was one thing she loved to indulge in.

She sunk into the water until her mouth was just below the surface, and began blowing bubbles, watching the sunlight coming in from the lone mullioned window playing in the ripples of their passing. Being here was a treat. King Lune was like a rich uncle being very generous with her and the others. But she wondered how long it could last, and whether her mother was already missing her back home. She had promised to return Baron's favor, however, and she wasn't leaving until she had done exactly that. Maybe later, when she got back home, she'd sit her mother down and tell her the truth, crazy as it sounded.

"Honest, Mom," she imagined herself saying, "we were in this huge castle which belonged to the King of Cats–" She could also visualize the skeptical expression on her mother's face.

"Mmm-hmm," Mrs. Yoshioka would reply. "Haru, did you also ride around in a carriage which turned into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight, and had mice for coachmen?"

For some reason, at this point in her daydream Baron suddenly appeared behind her on the couch, and placed a hand over hers as he addressed her mother with undeniable sincerity.

"Why yes, _okaa-sama,_" she heard him say in her mind's eye, "and I'd also like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."

The imaginary Cat never got any farther, because Haru instantly submerged herself, waiting until she could no longer hold her breath before emerging from the water, gasping and spluttering.

_What on earth am I thinking?_ she asked, distressed that she would even conjure up such thoughts. She couldn't see herself seriously considering marriage with a cat now, not after the trauma Lune's father put her through! Not even with the dapper and dashing Baron Humbert von Jikkingen, whom she had a massive crush on and still liked very much despite her current aggravation with him. It was true, in his arms she could feel that maybe life as a cat wasn't so bad. But infatuation never lasted for very long, and if going with him meant losing her friends and being unable to take care of her mom...

Haru had to confess to herself that she was curious about how kissing him would feel. She chuckled. Maybe she'd get hairballs in her throat, and her coughing would ruin the romantic mood. And besides, Baron seemed fixated on Louise anyway...

She decided the wild fantasy probably meant her brain was becoming waterlogged, and that it was probably time for her to get out of the tub. She stood up and let the liquid slough off her body, then reached for the towel hanging from the rack on the wall.

------oOo------

Haru exited her room newly dressed and fresh as a daisy, intending to go look for the Amasawas. As she stepped outside, though, she immediately spied Gabriel and Baron coming down the corridor from her left. The Swordmaster was supporting the Cat, who had an arm draped around the former's shoulders. Baron's other arm held his walking-stick and jacket.

For a heartbeat Haru thought of remaining silent to spite the Cat, but the good-natured side of her personality prevailed and she asked, "What happened?"

"He got winded," answered Gabriel. "Tried too hard too early, he did. His wound's still painful. I don't know if he reopened it."

Without hesitation Haru went to Baron's other side and put his arm around her shoulders. He tried to shake his arm off her, but she held it firm.

"Thank you," Baron said, "but Gabriel's help is all I need."

Haru didn't answer until they had reached Baron's bedroom and deposited the recalcitrant Cat on the sofa. When Gabriel left, she turned to him, hands on hips, and said, "It looks like I'm not the only one with a lack of common sense. Crazy, I think you called me."

Baron slouched in his seat. "Sorry." He grimaced and began unbuttoning his tan vest.

"What're you doing?"

"What does it look like?" The Cat continued until he had unfastened the garment, then shed it and began unbuttoning his shirt. The ginger fur on his chest came into view, and Baron pulled the shirt away and looked down his side.

"Well?"

"Hmm. It looks okay. Probably just not fully healed yet."

"Why, what do you feel?"

"Nothing much. Just a stitch whenever I raise my arms too high or move them too fast." The Baron rotated his arm experimentally.

"If you don't need anything, I'll go now," said Haru. The Cat nodded, and she moved towards the doors.

"Haru."

"Yes?"

"My thanks." A smile. "Look, there's a ball tonight. Would you like to come?"

A cat ball? Ladies in fine costumes and men looking their best? The clink of wineglasses and the gentle murmur of hushed talk? "Sure, I'd like to come. Maybe Natoru will be kind enough again to scrounge a dress for me..." She and Shizuku were being lent clothes until Queen Yuki's seamstresses could finish their creations.

Baron straightened up in his seat. "Then I'll see you later."

Haru smiled fleetingly at him and left the room.

As she shut the twin doors, an attack of nerves suddenly overcame her. She began trembling and put her arms around herself.

A phlegmatic mole repairman saw her as he came ambling down the corridor. His close-set, beady little eyes peered curiously from behind round spectacles as he asked her what was wrong.

"Nothing much," Haru replied. She jerked a thumb at Baron's room. "Um, air-conditioning's too cold in there."

The mole mouthed an "Oh" and let her pass, still shaking and shivering. As he reached the next bend he suddenly stopped.

"Hey, wait a minute," he mumbled to himself. "What air-conditioning?"

------oOo------

The ball was a fine enough occasion, but the dance began as a disaster. Haru's confidence deserted her in the opening minutes, and being in Baron's arms only served to heighten her nervousness. Knowing only basic steps when it came to formal dancing, she struggled gamely through the _Cats' Blood Waltz,_ then pleaded with Baron to sit out the next one. He refused her plea. To Haru's fright the next piece was much faster.

"I'll embarrass us!" she hissed at him.

"Never mind!" Humbert von Jikkingen seemed tickled pink by her discomfiture. "Put your feet on mine, there's a good girl! Now let the music sweep you away!" In a whirl of puffy skirts and pleated pants they glided away on the dance floor.

------oOo------

_"Going fearlessly, that's the way I live in the dream I saw."_

"Shh! Seiji! You're making me lose the rhythm!"

"Sorry! Sounded like it, for a moment."

Shizuku saw Baron and Haru twirl past them. The girl had a half-terrified, half-fascinated look on her face, while Baron's self-assured attention was wholly focused on her.

"Envy!" she said.

"What?" asked Seiji, perplexed.

"I want to dance with Baron too!"

"Oh, so I'm not good enough company, am I?"

"You know that's not true! _Anata,_ please?"

"All right, later. Say, I didn't know they imported music, these cats."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you recognize what they're playing? C'mon, it was running on _Minna no Uta_ a couple of months ago."

"Oh, really? What is it?"

With a smile Seiji pulled Shizuku closer to him and began to hum the melody to Mio Isayama's _Waltz of the Moon._

------oOo------

The musicbox tinkled out the last few notes and the piece ended. There was a smattering of polite applause. The couple clapped as well, and Haru gave her escort a wide smile. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was exhilarated.

"Thank you!" she said. "That was fun."

"Glad you liked it."

"Pardon me."

They looked up to see Shizuku standing there in her scarlet dress, with Seiji beside her in a white tux.

"Baron," he said, "might Shizuku cut in?"

The Cat looked at Haru, who smiled and inclined her head. With a bow and a curtsey they separated, and Seiji led her back to the sidelines. As they walked away she heard Baron say, "No hunting lapis lazuli for us tonight, eh?"

Haru wondered what it meant, and felt a little twinge of jealousy.

------oOo------

The party went great after that. The maestro at the podium, upon Yuki's request, had Seiji play something on a violin. He agreed to the performance, although he took Shizuku away from Baron before he started and whispered something in her ear.

"Eh?" she exclaimed, embarrassed at being caught flat-footed by such a request in front of all the important-looking cats in the room. "You can't be serious! I'm no singer! I can't sing my translation of _Country Road_ here!"

"Why not?"

"My voice isn't good enough!"

"Listen, Shizuku. If I like listening to it, they'll like listening to it too. Trust me on that."

Seiji seemed so earnest in his appeal Shizuku felt she just had to give in. "Oh, alright." She let him limber up on the strings, while she cleared her throat and, with her back to the audience, anxiously sang a few notes on a scale. After she indicated she was ready, Seiji introduced them both and told the audience to excuse his wife, since she was nervous, and that any wrong notes were his fault because he had called on her to sing on his whim.

Shizuku took the resulting scattered applause as genteel encouragement. Seiji poised himself, began playing the opening build-up, and shortly afterwards she began to sing.

_Hitoribocchi osorezu ni  
Ikiyou to yume miteta  
Samishisa oshi komete  
Tsuyoi jibun wo mamotte iko..._

------oOo------

After Shizuku had finished singing, she bowed and hopped off the dais where the symphonic band was stationed. The violinist reclaimed his instrument from Seiji, who joined his beloved on the floor. He glanced Baron's way, and the Cat indicated that he could take this turn.

As the music started up again, Seiji gathered Shizuku against him. "Well?"

"I have to admit, it went okay."

"You see? I told you you had nothing to fear. You might not be a pro, but still..."

Shizuku leaned her forehead against her husband's chest, the tenseness from her impromptu recital gradually draining away into nothing, leaving a warm glow in her chest.

"Thanks, Seiji. You know, I think you just made my day, and my night as well."

------oOo------

At the same time the newlyweds were waltzing, Muta was with Toto, sampling the dishes on the tables. It seemed the kitchen staff had prepared for his presence: the serving plates and food warmers were very large, heaping, and the dishes were many and varied.

"Aren't you going to dance, chum?" Toto asked Muta from his awkward perch astride the cat's shoulders.

"Dance? Don't make me laugh. Besides, who'd want to dance with me?"

"Well, there's the tabby in the veil over there who's been looking at you for the past couple of minutes," the crow pointed out.

"Naah, she's probably just shocked at how much food I can fit in my mouth at one time."

"Why don't you ask her? Come on, what've you got to lose?"

"All right, all right, anything to shut your yap. But if the roof comes crashing down while I'm on the dance floor, Toto, I'm going to tell everyone to blame you."

------oOo------

After the final toast by Lune which closed the gathering, Baron escorted a tired but happy Haru up to her room.

"Baron, about the bad things I said to you earlier," Haru hazarded to say as they strolled down the corridor, "I'm sorry I said them. I'd like to apologize."

"That's alright. I'm thankful to be the... object of your worry, Haru. But I still wish you wouldn't come with me."

Haru smiled and shook her head. "We'll just have to disagree on it for now. I have to thank you for asking me to the party. I enjoyed myself so much, I wish we could do it again."

"Ah, but to an end all good things must come," Baron quoted. "But it isn't the end that's important, it's what happens before that matters."

"Yeah." They came to the double doors of Haru's room.

"Well, good night," Haru said, feeling shy and awkward, like she had been on her first real date.

"Good night." Baron's eyes glittered in the soft yellow lighting, and for a moment Haru felt a joyful sort of dread as she imagined the Cat was about to kiss her.

Baron leaned towards her, and the brown-haired girl's hair leapt to her throat. He _was_ going to kiss her! He was going to kiss her! She closed her eyes.

All of a sudden she felt her right hand being lifted, and Baron's warm pecks on her lace-gloved fingers. She had to suppress a groan of disappointment as she opened her eyes again.

"Goodnight, Haru Yoshioka."

"Goodnight, Baron Humbert von Jikkingen."

The Cat then did something that almost made up for the loss of the kiss. He placed a hand on Haru's cheek, like he did years ago when he left her at the end of their adventure, and caressed it. Then he turned away for his room.

"Baron!"

The Cat turned round, a noble, statuesque but somehow lonely figure in the middle of the corridor.

"Yes?"

"I... nothing. Goodnight." Her hand waved from waist level, and she quickly retreated into her room.

Haru closed the door and leaned back against it, her heart still beating its frantic tattoo against her ribs. She actually expected Baron to kiss her! A cat and a human! It was all too much for her to ponder long upon. What about poor Kei, who right now was probably worrying about her along with her mother? Wasn't having these feelings being traitorous towards him? And what about Baron? Did he feel anything for her, or was he just using her as a substitute for his absent love? It was all so confusing!

Haru sighed and tried to lower her heart rate to an acceptable level as she reached for the zip in the back of her pale-yellow court dress.


	9. The Tanuki Returns

THE TANUKI RETURNS

"Wait!" came the cry. "Baron! Help me!"

The Cat continued discussing techniques with Gabriel as Muta continued to chase Haru round the practice room, holding the two-bladed battle axe high above his head. The large cat chortled in delight at the way the girl he had once accompanied into the Cat Kingdom fled before his wrath.

"It's unfair!" she wailed. "Muta's got a real axe, and I've got just this _iaito!_"

Gabriel looked up briefly from his talk with the Cat. "Keep it up, Haru," he encouraged. "Running away's one of the most important lessons you can learn on the field, especially when you're confronting someone wielding something that can break your sword." Then he went back to talking with the Baron.

"Come on, Haru!" laughed Muta. "None of the soldiers here want to have a friendly little tussle with me, so you're all I have left!" He brought the flat of the axe blade down, and it spanged off the floor just behind the fleeing girl. Of course, he was being very careful, but she didn't know that.

Out of sheer terror Haru leapt off the floor at an angle to Muta's overhead bash. She found herself landing with her feet on the wall, automatically careened off it and, with a backflip, landed on Muta's shoulders, balancing herself unsteadily on them as she tried to comprehend what she just did.

The giant cat did a good job mimicking a puzzled statue. "Haru? Did... did you just do what I think I saw you do?"

Haru looked down. While unclassifiable as a dizzying height, Muta's shoulders were far enough from the floor to make her crouch down and grab on to his ears.

"Ow! Let go!" he yelled. Haru apologized and released his ears, settling instead on securing herself by pulling the fur on top of his head.

"Yeowch! Hey, Baron! Look!"

As the Cat and Gabriel turned their attention to them, Muta whispered, "Well, go on, show them what you did."

Haru hesitated, and the wait made Gabriel say, "What? Are you two trying to imitate a pair of clowns in the circus?"

The taunt irritated Haru enough to make her jump off Muta's shoulders. Once again she aimed for the wall, and once again she was able to control her leap off it with a cat's grace, landing in a phoenix stance near Baron and the Swordmaster before straightening up with a flourish.

"I never saw that before," said Baron in admiration. "Could you do it again?"

"I-I think so." She concentrated and leapt backward, landing some twenty feet further away from her previous position. "Wow! How come I'm able to do this now?"

Gabriel put a paw under his chin. "Hmm. That's amazing," he said, as Haru gleefully jumped back onto Muta's shoulders. "It's too bad I don't know of any sword style that accommodates such an ability."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Baron assured him. "Either that, or she might think it up on her own."

"Yeah."

Under Haru's urging Muta began jogging round the room while carrying her on his shoulders. To Baron they looked like a strange, unequally-sized and differently-specied father-daughter pair running about in a park, laughing and having fun.

"Let's start, shall we, Swordmaster?"

"Yes, let's. I'll use dual rapier this time."

------oOo------

The day after the next produced a startling surprise in the form of Shoukichi returning to the castle. Covered in a ratty brown cloak, he collapsed that morning before the astonished gate guards and was brought into the infirmary, where it was discovered that he had numerous bruises and small cuts on his body.

On hearing of his return, Baron, Muta and Toto quickly made their way to the facility and found Lune and Natoru already there. Lune shook his head as the Cat tried to enter the room Shoukichi was secreted away in.

"They gave him something to make him sleep," he said. "But before he lost consciousness, he gave Natoru and I a lot of information." Lune gestured to the voluminous papers the Secretary cat was holding. "Baron, your friend's been to the Isles and back!"

The Cat raised his brows in surprise. "He has?"

"Yes, and he joined the Phaecis Gang to get there! I can't believe the audacity of this friend of yours. With the information he's given us, we can now refine our plan of attack against the Pirate King."

"I rejoice with you, Your Majesty. But please stand aside. My friend is in that room, and I must see how he is."

Lune smiled. "Be careful, friend Cat. One look at you might convince him he's already died and gone to Heaven. He still thinks you're dead."

"Don't worry 'bout that," said Muta. "I'll make sure he realizes he's still in the land of the living. After all, he still owes me a pot of tuna casserole."

------oOo------

Things moved quickly after Shoukichi's return. The troop contingent that had been building up in the barracks behind the castle was now complete, and each morning they began to hold exercises outdoors, trying to mesh together as a cohesive fighting team before they were sent into the place where the gods of war held their life-or-death sway.

Seiji and Shizuku watched them from their favorite balcony when they could, but sometimes went out and viewed them close-up. Lune had released the restrictions and allowed them outside the castle, on the grounds that the agents of the pirates were probably long gone by now, to report what was going on to the gang, and that even the most ignorant spy could no longer be persuaded not to notice the concentration of armed fighting cats and military supplies that had taken up residence by the castle. The couple also sometimes made their way to the nearby round moat—which had been converted to do double duty as a sort of water park—and in the process earned a few charming busybody tag-alongs, mostly in the form of kittens who, amazed at their being human, hung around them and plied them with questions about their world. Shizuku had learned to entertain them with a little magic; she sometimes made sinuous water-dragons fly through the air, to the delight of the cat children, and even caught fish for them, making her catch rise out of the clear water and float into their waiting arms.

On one such occasion she was watching them scamper away with their prizes when Seiji prompted her.

"What?"

"What, what?"

"You've got a sad look on your face."

Shizuku sighed. "Nothing,_ anata._" She watched the kittens some more. "Seiji, I want a child."

"Shizuku..."

"I know, it's been just a little over a year, but with all we've been doing... It disappoints me a little."

Seiji put an arm around her.

"I was so envious when Yuuko and Sugimura presented their twins to us at the wedding. Do you think we'll have twins as well?"

"Personally, I'd like one at a time," answered the violin-maker. "But if you want, we'll have twins, triplets, quadruplets even!"

The writer smiled. "Hey, look, there's a cat renting out rowboats. Want to?"

"Sure!" Seiji felt around in his pockets. "It's a good thing the King gave us this royal pass. Talk about a card with zero interest and forever to pay."

In a charmingly painted little orange-and-white boat they made their way to the middle part of the lake. The water was crystal-clear throughout, and they were kept entertained by the ever-changing underwater scene.

From where they were, however, they could still see the barracks, and the cats still training for battle.

Shizuku followed Seiji's gaze beyond the cliffs. "It's amazing how even in this fairytale kingdom there lurks the specter of war," said the husband. "Is there no place free of it?"

"Oh, Seiji. The only place you'll find that's free of conflict, where no beings struggle against one another," the wife returned sadly, "is the land of the dead. But let's not talk about that now! We're here, in an exotic place, under a bright sun! Now is the time to be happy! We'll taste what they're having soon enough, when we accompany them to the Lonely Isles ourselves." They had previously decided to tag along with the cats, because Shizuku had learned that Baron would be going with them, and Haru would be accompanying him along with Muta and Toto. She felt it was her duty to chronicle these events in her creation/not-creation's life, especially with the reemergence of Louise, and she was also worried about Haru's fate. From what she had seen of Haru's practice sessions with Gabriel and the Baron, the girl seemed determined to put herself in harm's way.

A call came across the water, and Shizuku turned to see a little tom waving at her, gesturing that he wanted her to perform some magic for him and his friends. She obliged him—and wetted her husband somewhat—by producing a water-bird, a phoenix made of spray that burst out of the tranquil waves and flew up into the sun, to dissolve in misty droplets that cascaded around the kids on the shore. The children cheered and frolicked happily in the glittering curtains.

------oOo------

It was some days later, and word had come down at last. On the morrow they would leave the castle, in small enough parties to minimize detection by the Black Cat's agents, and make their way to the coastal fortress town of New Lorum, where the contingent of Army and Marine cats would reassemble and board ships for the Lonely Isles. Baron, Muta, Toto, Haru, Shizuku and Seiji would travel with Gabriel and his Stormy Cat commando team. Shoukichi didn't mind being left behind this time; his wounds would not make the journey pleasant, and they had all the information they needed anyway. He told them he was looking forward to some peace and quiet and a lot of harem cats surrounding him, feeding him grapes. Shizuku said she would tell on him when they got back home, since Tama New Town was near Seiseki Sakuragaoka, where she still lived, but Shoukichi just rebutted her statement with, "Hey, I don't get to cut loose that often. I won't be naughty, but I'm gonna party, party, party while I can!"

That morning, the Cat and the Swordmaster were with Haru in the practice hall, talking about something.

"Baron, are you sure about this?" Gabriel asked, the concern in his voice obvious. "The lass doesn't have the skill you do. One of you might get hurt."

Baron waved Gabriel's concern away. Today was the day he was going to test Haru in a full-bore match. It was going to be a graduation of sorts from the truncated learning season, and had been Baron's idea. He couldn't dissuade her from going, and to make things worse Shizuku also insisted on coming along. At least the writer was going to stay aboard ship, where it was safe. As to Haru, Baron hoped she could at least assure him that she would be able to take care of herself through her performance in this match.

"The Black Cat and her allies will not be forgiving. It's better to get wounded here than in a faraway place where no help is available."

"But still..." Darn all the titles and social places, Gabriel just wanted to tell the Cat he was being stupid and be done with it! Dueling with real swords was just too dangerous for a tyro like Haru, even if they were wearing his special armor!

Haru stepped into the hall from the changing room. She was dressed again in a padded long-sleeved shirt and pants. A pair of black leather boots with stiff, calf-length uppers shod her feet. Her hands were gloved in chain and aluminum, and a mask like a fencer's covered her head.

She put a hand on her hip. The other was placed on the hilt of a smallsword, which hung from her hip in its tooled leather scabbard. "How do I look?"

At the sight of her the Cat was stricken. About the same height and build... if you just ignored the ponytail peeking out of the back of her head and what little human visage you could see, she resembled her more... and, unfortunately, it was his idea for her to wield a smallsword too...

"Baron? Baron?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking of something." He put on his own helmet; prudence dictated that he was going to wear armor for this clash. "You look fine. Let's begin."

------oOo------

The instant Gabriel left to attend to Seiji's last-minute self-defense lesson, the two began sparring. It lasted for quite a while. Baron was hampered by the lingering pain of his wound, while Haru still lacked the skill to make any real headway against him.

Gradually both of them began to predict the other. It was axiomatic that in combat one should remain unpredictable, so their contest dragged on and became more about physical endurance rather than skill.

At one point the Cat made a mistake, falling for Haru's beat on his blade and quick lunge-attack. Emboldened, she began to press her advantage, so that he was forced to defend himself from her flurry of blows.

But the Cat knew a trick or two himself. He lured Haru into a thrust, then parried her blade in such a way that he ended up controlling her body movement. With a rough push he shoved her to the floor.

Haru rolled upright, twirling her blade around her as she got up to prevent Baron from closing in on her while she was off-balance. She began another conversation of swords between Baron and herself, and broke the cadence of one of her attacks to tangle his blade up with hers.

Baron pressed against her, and instead of executing a disengage she trapped the Cat's cane-sword against her guard and pushed it out of line. He narrowly avoided the straight punch she threw at his face with her free hand.

Baron quickly grabbed Haru's extended forearm and yanked, causing her to lose her balance and fall forward. Then, with much trepidation at the back of his mind, he brought his knee up into her stomach, softening the blow so it wasn't as brutal an impact. Haru ended up splayed across Baron's upper leg like a child positioned for a spanking.

The Cat softly pressed the pommel of his cane-sword against the back of Haru's neck. "And you're dead. Let's reset."

The chagrined young lady stood up and backed off. Panting from their exertions, they saluted each other with their weapons, and this time Baron was the one who attacked first.

Haru opposition-parried her opponent's blade, then glided her sword down Baron's. To her utter confusion he knocked her sword away, breaking contact, then streaked past her, keeping his cane-sword at _octave,_ then _nieuveme_ to defend himself.

_What's he doing?_ thought Haru, keeping close on the Cat's heels as he continued to run at full steam towards the wall of the practice room. Was he intent on colliding with it?

Just before he would have run straight into the wall, Baron leapt up and ran to Haru's right for three steps along the vertical surface. Then he came back down to the floor and charged at her from the new and unexpected direction.

Surprised, she turned to deal with him, but just then the demon of her clumsiness reared its ugly head, and she tripped on her own calf.

Baron landed in time to see her falling towards him. As she fell, she tossed her smallsword away so no one would get hurt by it. It clattered on the floor as he reached out and caught her by her right upper arm. His grip was so tight it hurt, and she groaned as she banged against him.

"Haru!" Baron whipped his helmet off, then removed hers and tossed it to the floor. "Are you okay?"

Haru, wheezing, raised her head to reply, and was at once aware of the nearness of his face, his warm breath, and the comforting scent he wore; the yellow shine of his eyes, winking and glinting like marvelous cabochons, promising unto her delights unknown by the rest of womankind...

Baron looked down at the face inches away from his. He smelled the fresh soap smell on top of her honest sweat, took in her smooth-toned skin and delicate features, and was sure he heard the flutter of her heart in her chest...

He watched her close her eyes. The tip of her tongue darted out lightning-quick to moisten her lips like a pink fish, then retreated nervously back into its shelter. The sight somehow sent a thrill through him, making her appear in his eyes a supplicant giving herself up for the delectation of a cruel, ancient god. He felt a compelling urge to partake of what she was offering him, to lay his claim on her, so virginal and innocent was she, and yet so alluring. There was simply no denying the attraction between them...

He got to his feet, and pulled Haru upright as well. Stunned, she stood motionless in front of him.

"Baron?"

"Haru," the Cat said in a voice so quiet she almost couldn't hear him, "you'd better leave."

"I'm–"

"Go! Or I won't be held responsible for what might happen next."

Baron watched as the eyes of the girl he had once rescued began to moisten. Her face paled; her lips—so ready to touch his some seconds ago—trembled, and she spun on her heel and ran from the hall.

The refined _click_ of the door latches was the only thing that broke the deafening silence. Baron stood still for a long time. Then he flung his sword away, and sat down cross-legged in the middle of the open space. Propping his elbows on his knees, he covered his face with his hands and sighed heavily. Keeping him silent company were the discarded helmets and swords on the floor.


	10. Dreaming of Spring

DREAMING OF SPRING

Kei Machida looked at the trendily-dressed girl seated across from him at the _kissaten_ table.

"Hiromi, I don't know where she went and she never told me anything," he said earnestly. "I thought you of all people would know."

"I wish I did." Hiromi angrily gazed at Machida. "Maybe I ought to let Tsuge beat some sense into that _hentai_ skull of yours."

"Hiromi, please! I feel bad enough–"

"Well, you should! Trying to force her to give herself up to you like that!" Hiromi's brows came down over her dark brown eyes. "That's what I hate about you Japanese men."

They slowly became aware of the people in the shop looking at them. Hiromi lowered her head and apologized meekly.

"Trust me, Hiromi, I'd gladly let Tsuge-kun beat me up, if it would bring Haru back. I feel like a scumbag."

Hiromi bit back a cruel rejoinder and sighed. "I just hope she lets us know where she is and how she's doing."

Machida nodded in agreement and looked out the large windows at the people passing by outside. The police interview two days ago didn't help, Haru's mom—naturally—was mad at him, and this conversation with her friend and confidante was going nowhere.

_Haru, where are you now? If you were trying to make me feel guilty for what I did and said, you didn't need to. Please, come back. Everyone misses you._

------oOo------

"Tell me again why we're heading this way instead of going with the others," said Seiji.

It was three A.M., and the first contingents of Lune's task force had left the castle. One battalion of Army cats would head out to the northwest; the King was with them. The little group consisting of the humans, the Cat Business Office agents, the small Stormy Cat commando team, and a couple of quartermaster staff were to take a vastly different road, to the southeast, towards the border with the Oriental duchy that paid tribute to the Cat King. Because of the nature of the excursion, Seiji was dressed in his green polo, jeans and rubber shoes, while Shizuku wore a red blouse with white collar paired with yellow pantaloons and her old sandals. Haru was in an open-necked cream shirt with long ruffled sleeves, and sported dun-colored leggings and black boots. All of them had a duffel and a backpack each. In addition, Shizuku had a small pouch hanging from her belt, while Haru had a smallsword stuffed in her duffel. The Cat medallion she used to decorate her epée was now hanging round her neck on a fine chain Yuki gave her, a talisman of sorrow resting near her heart.

"You'll see," the Baron replied vaguely, tossing his carpetbag from one hand to another. His cane was trapped between its handles. "It'll save us some time, since we need to get to New Lorum ahead of King Lune and the rest of the troops."

"Then why didn't we leave earlier? At least then we could take our time getting there," pointed out Toto, still squatting astride Muta's shoulders like a living version of Edgar Allen Poe's eponymous bird in _The Raven._

"Oh, we still can, don't worry about that. This way we'll arrive there at the day of the new moon without wasting any time."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Seiji, more confused than ever. He turned to look back at Gabriel, who was leading the silent Stormy Cats. The Swordmaster shrugged.

"I think I know," Shizuku said with a little smile. "The day of the new moon, huh? It'll be a real surprise for you, _anata._"

"That's what worries me," admitted Seiji. "I've been cultivating my dislike of surprises lately." He pointed in Muta's direction. "Some of them have been dangerous to my health."

"Hey, I don't have to take that from you," growled Muta. He had been extra grumpy ever since they left the castle, complaining about having to set out on extremely short commons. "It wasn't my fault you decided to open the door to Lune's snapdragons."

"You could've warned me, Egg," Seiji answered back, "that 'snapdragons' here weren't the same as the flowers back home."

"How was I to know? I didn't know that either."

"Oh, pipe down, you two. You're giving me a headache," complained Toto. "Anyway, off I go to scout. See you in a little while." He flew off into the dark sky, buffeting everyone nearby with the portable windstorm off his wings.

Baron turned around and beamed at Shizuku. "So you do remember."

"Sir Cat, how could I forget the first tale I had ever written? I just wish," she added in a lower tone, "the story of your search for Louise was as happy."

Beyond Shizuku the Cat's eyes discerned the pale, composed face of Haru. She was walking by herself near Muta and Seiji.

He sighed. "So do I, Shizuku-chan. So do I."

------oOo------

It was a little past daybreak on that very day when the Cat King's Castle had a very special visitor. Or rather, three of them. Two came riding on the back of the third, and they landed on one of the balconies without so much as a 'by-your-leave,' to the consternation of the Secret Service cats assigned to guard Lune's erstwhile substitute, his father, the former Cat King.

Natoru wasn't so surprised when their approach was announced to him; he had been expecting them, ever since the day Haru had drunk the potion that turned her back to a human. Two of them he had seen before: one was a fourteen-year-old girl in a sailor uniform, with small, wide-set eyes, a ready smile, and dark-brown hair that reminded the Secretary of Haru's; the other was a horned dragon with silver-white scales and a serpentine body. The last person he was unfamiliar with, although he guessed she was related to the woman used to come to the palace, since she also wore a free-flowing black dress.

As they landed on the balcony, he raised a paw in greeting. "Miss Chihiro, Master Haku, welcome back. I'm surprised at seeing the two of you here. I was expecting only Master Haku and Miss Lala..."

"Hrmm, hrmm." The sound caused the Secretary to turn around. His eyes widened.

"Your Highness!" Down he went on his knee.

"Get up, Natoru, don't act like the cheerful, simpering idiot you used to be when I was King," boomed the old purple cat with the long, frizzy fur, brocaded red robes and jeweled circlet on his brow. As the Secretary got up, he asked, "I was taking my morning constitutional when I heard the hullabaloo and decided to investigate. Who are these people?" He peered at the young girl who had accompanied Haku and Chihiro as Natoru introduced them.

"Can't be... Kiki-san?"

The girl laughed. "No, I'm sorry, Highness, that's my grandmother. Everyone keeps telling me how much we look alike." She pointed to her shoulder-length black hair. "You'll notice I'm not wearing a red bow."

The Cat Duke rubbed his forehead. "Mmm-hmm. Sorry, my mind tends to confuse past and present nowadays. It's hard not to notice the resemblance." He looked over her some more. "How old are you, dear?"

"Fifteen, sir."

"So you've been away from home for quite a while, I assume?"

The girl shook her head. "No, Your Highness. It took me a while to leave home because I couldn't find a city of my own." She pulled her shoulder-slung gray satchel in front of her and produced an ornate long-necked bottle from it. "Here's what you wanted, Mr. Secretary."

"Thank you." The cat with the Scottish Fold ears accepted the bottle and handed over a thick red envelope to the teenager, who stuffed it in her bag. "Why are you here instead of Lala-sama?"

"Lala's my mom, sir She was feeling under the weather and asked if I could do this favor for her. Of course I couldn't say no." She fished out a tablet-like device from her satchel, flipped it open, and handed it to Natoru. It was a Tungsten PDA. "Sign here, please."

Natoru accepted the device. "Aren't you going to count the money first?"

"My mom said I could trust you," the witch replied. "After all, she and grandma and Zeniiba are the only source for this. If you double-cross them, you won't be getting any more."

"If you say so, miss." Natoru signed the PDA, handed it back to the girl, and excused himself to put the bottle in a refrigerator. Its contents spoiled quickly.

"Oh, Mister Secretary," the girl called, "my mom also told me to tell you about some side effects she forgot to tell you about."

Natoru paused. "Which are?"

"Uh, nothing much. A bit of extra strength and jumping ability, that's all."

"Oh. Well, thank you, then. I'll see that this is labeled accordingly. You have to excuse me, I'm very busy." The Secretary disappeared into the doorway.

The young witch bowed to the Duke. "Well, I must go now, sir, or Chihiro will be late for school."

The old cat nobleman nodded. "Safe trip. Oh, I forgot to ask you your name."

"It's Lily, sir."

The Cat Duke's walleyes grew large. "Lily? _Lily?_"

"Yes." The girl's eyes first showed puzzlement, then suspicion. "Is there anything wrong with the name, Highness?"

The Cat Duke chortled. "N-no, no, nothing at all, girl. I mean no offense. It's just that I have fond memories of your grandmother and her cat..." To show he meant no insult, he gave her his full name while apologizing and kissed the back of her hand.

Lily blushed. "Gosh, I never thought my hand would be kissed by royalty."

The Cat Duke smiled. "Ah, royalty is nothing compared to a young lady's beauty. Well, a handsome boyfriend would be even better than a kiss, but I'm leaving that up to you." He gave her a wink and made a grandiose bow, then stepped away.

Lily tittered and curtseyed. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Lily-_jousan._"

The two girls got on Haku's back. Chihiro gripped his horns, while Lily held on to Chihiro's waist after putting the headphones of her mp3 player on. Then the river spirit took off and, wriggling and snaking though the sky, quickly disappeared into the lightening blueness.

The Cat Duke watched them go. He really didn't want to end up insulting the teenager, so there was no way he was going to tell her Lily was the name of her grandmother's cat's girlfriend...

------oOo------

"Chihiro-san, thanks so much for letting Haku help me this time."

"No problem. He always helps your mother anyway. Only we'd better hurry, or I'm going to be late for class and my teacher is going to put me on after-school duty again."

The dragon beneath them rumbled and flew faster. At one point Lily threw a small ball in front of his path, and a bright circle of light flared and swallowed them up, leaving no trace of them behind.

------oOo------

It was around noon when Gabriel called for a halt. "Break out your mess and have some food," he instructed. "We move again in an hour."

Footsore and dead tired, the humans and cats moved towards the trees lining the left side of the road. The yellow-suited quartermaster staff and olive-green-pants-wearing Stormy Cats immediately sat down in the shade and began eating. So did Muta and Baron. Seiji and Shizuku shared a tree bole with Haru.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she heard Seiji ask. Despite their occasional bickering the man seemed devoted to his thin, frail-looking wife. "You look kind of peaked to me."

"I'm fine, Seiji. You're worrying over nothing. Remember how I kept up with you when we were in Italy?"

"You were carrying far less than you are now," Seiji insisted.

"I'm fine. Come on, let's make like the cats and eat. I'm starving."

------oOo------

Thanks to her tiredness and the soporific midday heat Haru fell asleep. This time she dreamed she was somewhere in turn-of-the-century England. She was in a Victorian-style dress, and Machida, who wore a trimly-cut suit of dark cloth and a bowler hat, was walking beside her.

"And how are you today? You beautiful little ones," he cooed. Haru watched him, fascinated. She had never seen him so gushy before.

She faced forward, looked down and discovered the reason for his cooing. She was pushing a pram. Inside were four babies, covered from the neck down by a blanket, with bonnets on their little heads.

Two of them looked like miniature versions of Baron. The other two looked like her as a cat, with cute little button noses and spiky brown hair peeking out of their bonnets.

Haru shrieked.

------oOo------

"Haru-chan! Wake up!"

A hand shook her roughly. She opened her eyes and found herself looking at Seiji Amasawa.

"You okay?"

Haru gathered her scattered wits about her. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I get nightmares when I sleep tired." She rubbed her eyes and stumbled to her feet.

"You haven't eaten yet," said Seiji. "Hurry up, we're almost about to leave."

"We are?" Haru dug around in her pack for some comestibles. "I-I'll eat over there," she said, pointing to a nearby tree. She didn't want to Seiji or Shizuku to see her scarfing down her food.

She walked to the tree and spied a figure in the branches of a maple beside it. It was the Baron. He was sitting on a branch, with his back propped up against another and his cane nestled in the crook of his right arm. His hat was pulled over his eyes, and it looked like he was asleep.

_The cat person  
Dreaming of Spring  
Under green leaves' shade_

Haru twisted and saw Shizuku standing quietly behind her. "Spring?"

Shizuku shrugged. "Who knows? He might be. Dreaming, that is." Her voice was tentative. "Haru-chan, if you want to talk about it..."

Haru's brows came together. For a second she was tempted to tell the elder woman to mind her own business, then relented and groaned ashamedly. "_Iya,_ Shizuku-sensei. I wish I weren't that obvious."

"Don't worry, Haru." Shizuku came to stand beside her. "It's only because I've been watching you two ever since the ball. I can recognize a lovers' quarrel when I see one."

"'L-lovers' quarrel?' Well, I wouldn't go that far in describing it." Haru sighed. "Sensei, what am I going to do? I have a boyfriend back home, and yet... I can't help it! Even if he's not human, I find Baron strangely attractive."

"I can understand," said Shizuku. "He's gallant, he's true to his word, he stands by his friends... he also has that air of mystery about him."

Haru nodded. "Like I told him before, what woman wouldn't fall in love with him?" She pouted. "I wish I didn't, though."

"Oh?"

"I feel so confused, sensei. Cat or human... choose for me, please?"

Shizuku mulled over what Haru had asked as she led them further away from the Cat. "I wish I could tell you to do this or that," she said finally. "But I don't think I know enough about your situation to judge, and I've never experienced anything quite like it. Seiji and I have been a couple ever since we met in high school."

Haru sniffed. "And now you're married. I wish my love life were that straightforward. I guess the only thing to do is keep as far away from Baron as possible."

Shizuku looked at her. "If you think that's best. Hey, one of the cats is waving to us. I think we're leaving."

"What? But-but I haven't eaten yet!"

------oOo------

The kneeling tom wearing the violet bandanna finished his speech with, "And that is my report, milady." Around him hissed the various pipes and valves that lined the walls of the dimly-lit cavern.

The cat he was addressing, slouched in the jeweled throne it had stolen from a museum, nodded and propped an elbow on an armrest. "Excellent. You may go." The lackey got up and exited the cavern through a rough-hewn hole in the wall.

The seated cat examined the nails of one hand as it spoke. "_Was denken Sie, Phaecis?_"

The huge gray Husky half-breed standing on its hind legs beside the throne growled. "All right, I admit it. I was wrong and you were right. What're we going to do now?"

"Don't worry. I knew this day would come and planned against it. Leave me. I have to think."

The Pirate King's ammunition boots thumped solidly against the floor as he left through the same exit his henchman had used.

The Black Cat felt something stir within and shifted on the seat. _Ah, my dear, you're awake again._

_Let me go, you rotten excuse for a living thing,_ came the angry female voice. _The Baron is here. He's closing in on you even as we speak. You won't get away this time._

_True, too true. I have no intention of running away. After all, what's he going to do? Harm me?_

The Black Cat laughed, her rich voice echoing off the rock walls. In the single passage that led from her lair Phaecis looked back and shook his head. Why someone as smart as the Doctor would want to spend life locked inside a female body was beyond him. Personally, he'd just as soon spend his money in this life, then leave it behind and go on his way.

------oOo------

"Yuki? What troubles you?"

The Queen turned away from the window and looked behind her. "Father," she acknowledged, dipping her head. "I'm worried about Lune."

"My son knows how to take care of himself. You know that. Please, won't you join me for lunch? That _tanuki_ guest of yours has some crazy ideas I'd like you to hear before I pass judgment on them."

"Yes, Father." Her blue eyes lost some of their concern as she accepted the Duke's offered arm. "What's Shoukichi up to now?"

The Cat Duke scrunched his face up. "Yuki, what's a 'home theater system'?"

* * *

**Author's Postscript:** 'Haru', when spoken, can mean 'spring' (among other things) or refer to Haru herself (although her first name is written using katakana). It's a long story; it was a challenge to myself, that's all. 

_neko hito wa  
haru yumemiteru  
ryokuin shita_

is my pitiful attempt at haiku. When I say I like to challenge myself, it doesn't mean I always succeed.


	11. An Accepted Temptation

**Author's Note:** Boy, this is wandering off into pioneering directions. Thank you all for the encouraging words, but I'll do a Muta and be pessimistic about anyone liking this chapter. It might be what you expected, but it's causing me to write myself into a corner, if you know what I mean. Therefore, if anyone would be so kind as to offer to beta the next two chapters, it's something that I'll gladly accept. Email me. Ciao for now. :)

By the way, a _toriuma_ is an avian mount used by the Valley people from _Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind_ (i.e., Lord Yupa's Kai and Kui). If _Laputa_ contains fox-squirrels, why not a few horseclaws in the land of the cats? It's not so different from Porco Rosso and Kiki and Jiji and Totoro hiding in _Whisper of the Heart._ Go on, look for them. They're there.

As a last note, The Cat Returns _does_ take place in Koganei. Darn. Revisions all over again.

* * *

AN ACCEPTED TEMPTATION

That afternoon found the humans and soldiers surrounding an agitated farmer on an ostrich-like _toriuma._ The fellow had come racing willy-nilly down the road and caused everyone to hide in the bushes, then pop out and ambush him in order to learn why he was in such a hurry.

"Is there a healer among you?" were the first words out of his mouth. "My wife is ill, she needs one badly!"

Shizuku, remembering what she had done for the Baron, took one look at her husband and volunteered. So did Gabriel, who had the Cats' medical kit with him and was the most experienced in dealing with field medicine.

After leaving some instructions with the Stormy Cats and quartermaster people (and some hurried discussion with Baron on whether they'd be too late getting to the place they were going to if they intervened) they rode the _toriuma_ to the farmer's simple mud-walled, sod-roofed dwelling. As they headed towards the front door, Shizuku let it slip that she never knew cats raised crops. Weren't they meat-eaters?

"Of course we raise crops," Gabriel said, sounding somewhat surprised. "Haven't you ever seen Renaldo Moon nibbling on plants? We do it sometimes. We get upset stomachs when on an all-meat diet. As for the excess crop, it gets sold to other countries."

Inside the house they found the farmer standing holding his two kittens close against him. One was a tom of a solid brown color, the other was a tortoiseshell tabby. Both would have been adorable, if not for the frightened looks in their eyes.

"She's in there." The farmer cat pointed to a curtain-covered cutout in the wall.

Gabriel went in first with the farmer, leaving Shizuku outside trying to console the two kittens. The boy's name was Yuuzo, while the girl's was Sanpei. After clinging to her tearfully as a sort of substitute mom, Shizuku assured them that their mama would be alright and made use of her magic once more to distract and entertain them. She looked at the blue curtain and hoped her words would be proven true.

------oOo------

Gabriel emerged from the room some minutes later and looked at Shizuku. _No,_ he mouthed, then said, "I think it's something she ate. She's in a bad way. Would you have a look at her, please?"

Shizuku left the much-mollified children and passed the curtain. There was a gray cat in a small bed, and her tongue was sticking out and she was panting. When Shizuku put a hand to her forehead, it was hot.

"I'm not sure I can do anything," she said to Gabriel, "but I'll give it a try."

She spoke a few words to the suffering cat, then laid her right hand on the forehead and her left on the paws lying on the middle of the coverlet. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

The yellowish glow of Shizuku's healing power came again and filled the room for a second or two. Then it vanished, and she sought to stand. She staggered as she did, but righted herself even as Gabriel stuck his arms out to steady her.

"I think I've–" she breathed, then stopped as she looked at her hands. "No... Gabriel-san..."

------oOo------

Not in a million years would Kouji Amasawa's younger brother have imagined himself riding bareback on a rotund white cat, whose noisy wheezing made him worry that he was going to have a heart attack soon.

"Slow down, Muta," he cautioned.

"I'll never let it be said that I made everyone else late," gasped the giant cat as he loped after the Stormy Cat commandos, who were also on all fours. Flying just above them was Toto, with Baron and Haru on his back, leading them in the right direction. "You should take more pride in yourself, Seiji, like I do."

"I don't care about pride," returned the human. "Shizuku likes my painting. She also supports my violin-making, even though it means we're often away from each other. That's all I really care about."

"Listen, you two aren't joined at the hip. You ought to have a life of your own."

"But I do have a life of my own! It's the being together that's sorely lacking." Seiji sighed. "We're not joined at the hip, but we sure are joined at the heart. It gets so lonely without her, I'm tempted to stray with all those lovely Italian women I meet."

"Hah! Now at least I know you're flesh and blood like I am."

"Why, Muta? Ever had any girlfriends?"

"Sure. Lots of them. I gave them up because it was getting difficult looking after all my kids."

"All your _what?_"

Muta turned his head for a moment to look at Seiji. "What part of that can't you understand?" he panted. "Tell me so I can shout it at you. You know, kids? The little ones who run around and pull at your fur all day, or keep chasing and biting your tail so you don't get any sleep?"

"I know that. It's just... Muta, have you ever been married?"

"You mean like Lune and Yuki? Nope. They're royalty and I'm not. I ride the trains and amble between houses. I'm not the marrying type."

"So you mean you had kids, but never married any of their moms?"

Muta slowed to a walk. "Alright, Seiji. Out with it. What are you getting at?"

"I... I don't know. I don't want to sound moralistic, but it doesn't seem right to me to have children and not marry..."

"I can't settle down! Look at what I do! Also, none of the tabbies would have fat old me as a husband anyway. At least I made sure my kids were well-looked after. But why am I excusing myself to you?" Muta's voice became angry. "It's the way of us cats who live in your world. D'you think that just because you're a human you've got the right to judge us? Sure, you may have the dominant civilization on Earth, but a lot of you have morals that'd make any hyena proud. Just look at where you've left just about every other animal species! Stewards and caretakers, bah! You can't even look properly after yourselves! If you're so concerned about people having kids and being unmarried, why don't you ask Haru where her father is?"

Seiji slid off Muta. His hands and feet were cold and his arms were shaking. He wanted to answer back, but was shamed into silence by the knowledge that what Muta was saying was at least partially true.

The giant felid stopped and let out a great, yawning-mouth sigh. "Seiji... look, I'm sorry. You got me riled up. Hop on, or we'll lose the others."

"No thanks. I think I'll walk."

"Come on," Muta insisted. "When you've seen fellow cats stoned and shot to death, sometimes out of nothing but fun, or run over or placed in garbage bags and thrown out with the rest of the trash, then maybe you'll understand why I'm so disgusted with the world sometimes. For now... just forget it and get back on, human."

Reluctantly Seiji got back on his pet-turned-ride. The others were already out of sight.

"You know," said Muta, starting to move again, "I wonder if any of my kids will take after their old sire and enlist in the Cat Business Office when I'm gone..."

Somehow Seiji found his voice. "Gone, Muta? Nonsense. You'll live forever."

"None of us is forever, Seiji. None of us."

------oOo------

When they arrived at the farmhouse the soldiers were a distance away, and Toto was parked beside the front door. Seiji leapt down from Muta's back, and the cat stood up and gratefully stretched his back.

As he made his way to the low-slung structure, he saw Baron and Haru exit it, holding something hazy between them, as if they were assisting it. He stopped in his tracks.

"Seiji!" The vague form of Shizuku broke free of those supporting her and walked calmly to her husband. She stepped into his arms, and he embraced her. She was a solidifying cloud, or a phantom made of an airy, almost-invisible gel, a specter in need of the comfort and reassurance only her husband could give.

"Seiji," Shizuku repeated, her voice sounding like it came from far away.

"Are you alright?" he asked, feeling her struggling to stem her rising panic. "How do you feel?"

"Detached, like everything's so far away from me. I can't see so well now. Everything's becoming lost in a blinding white. But don't worry, I'm fine..." Shizuku's arms tightened around him. Seiji said nothing, but held her close.

The woman with the short, straight dark hair shuddered, and her body became a dead weight in his arms.

"Shizuku!" Seiji held her away from him so he could look at her. Her insubstantial face had a faint smile on it. When he put two fingers on the side of her hazy throat, his concern was lessened. She had a pulse. It was quick and weak, but it was there.

She moaned and stirred slightly. Seiji put his right hand on the back of her head and nuzzled her nose with his own. "You silly girl, so this happens every time you heal someone, eh?" he said softly. "I guess all you need is a little rest." Even as he spoke he could discern her body slowly returning to solidity.

He lifted his head. "Hey, could we wait a while? She needs to rest."

"There's nothing to be done about it." The words came from Gabriel, who like the Cat was also standing watching the couple. "We'll have to wait to see what happens to the farmer's wife too." He turned and motioned to the Stormy Cats and quartermasters. "Break time!" he called. "Stand down. We'll be here for quite a while."

Baron gave a _tsk_ as he watched Seiji lift the unconscious woman and, under the guidance of the farmer, bring her inside the house. Haru, who was standing beside him, noted his reaction. She coughed politely.

"We might not make it in time," he muttered. It could have been a response to her, or not. Haru couldn't tell. She was about to turn her back on him and join Toto and Muta when he called her name. She made a half-hearted attempt to look in his eyes, then settled for a blank stare in the vicinity of his hat brim.

"Yeah?"

"I'm grateful we have this interruption, Haru," the Cat said. Were her ears fooling her, or did he sound the tiniest bit apprehensive? "We really need to talk."

"What's there to talk about?" she snapped. "You've made yourself so clear, I don't think there's anything left to discuss."

"That's not true." To her satisfaction Baron actually seemed hurt.

"Alright. Supposing that you're right and we _do_ have something to talk about, let's do it right here. Talk."

"I'd rather we do this somewhere private..."

"So you can charm me with your words? Nothing doing."

Baron sighed. "You're being very difficult."

"So what if I am? I just want you to leave me alone."

Without warning the Cat stooped and picked her up in his arms. He held her firmly so her arms were pinned at her sides, preventing her from doing anything except squirm in his grasp.

"Hey! Put me down!"

"If you won't listen to reason, young miss," Baron said in a low and determined voice, "I'll have to use force. But one way or another, we're going to talk."

There were catcalls and whistles from the soldiers. "That's the way! Careful, don't drop her! Go, Baron, go!"

The cat gentleman—not so gentle any more—aimed a withering look in their direction, and their cheering died down somewhat. Shifting Haru so he could carry her more conveniently, Baron turned to Toto and Muta and announced, "We'll be over there if anyone needs us." 'Over there' was a stand of trees in the middle of what was otherwise cereal cropland.

As the Cat walked away on an earthen trail Muta called after him. "Go easy on her, Baron! She's just a kid!"

"Shut up, you," cawed Toto. "They'll be having no fun and games."

"What do you mean?"

"There's something going on with those two."

"Oh? Like what?"

Toto shook his head, and Muta had to swing his torso back to avoid the large bill as it slashed through the air. "I get the feeling they're angry with one another. When I flew them here Haru wouldn't even hold on to Baron, so she held on to me instead, and now I think I've lost some feathers." Toto twisted his head around and began to preen himself. "Yup. There they go."

Muta put a paw to his chin. "Hmm. You'd think this was going to be a straightforward affair, marching to the sea."

"I never expected it to be so. Why does Baron want us to join King Lune's army anyway? He's got more than enough cats to demolish a small town if he wanted to."

Muta shrugged. "Whatever it is, it's still got to do with Louise, I bet. You know him. He can be so one-track-minded at times." Muta gave the crow a once-over. "Hey, feather-face, didn't you bring any food? Seiji's got the goodies in his pack, and I don't think it'd smart to disturb him right now."

"Heh. Where does it look like I hid it, Vacuum Mouth? Go ask the cats if they've got any. If they don't you're welcome to eat them."

Muta cast an appraising glance at the crow. "Speaking of eating things... you're starting to look like a lovely turkey dinner yourself..."

"Keep your distance, Moota, or I'll peck your brains out. Oh, that's right, you haven't got any."

"Why you–!"

------oOo------

Just before Baron set Haru on her feet they saw Toto flying away from the sod house in a storm of dust, hotly pursued by Muta. The Cat shook his head and sighed. "Those two will never grow out of it."

Just then Haru slapped him. Or at least she tried to, but the Cat was expecting such a move and instantly raised his walking stick near the side of his face. Haru's palm hit the solid cherrywood instead.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry. If you'll just listen to me for a minute..."

Rubbing her injured hand, Haru scowled. "I don't seem to have much of a choice, do I? Barbarian," she added.

Baron stood still, the very picture of offended dignity. "Are you that intent on physically assaulting me?"

"Don't tempt me."

"Alright, then." He lowered his cane. "Go on, hit me."

Haru stood there, unwilling to give in to the temptation.

"What's the matter? Gone afraid all of a sudden?"

"I'm just not as rude as you are," she relented, folding her arms and stuffing her hands in the crook of her elbows. She turned her back on the Cat, who let out a little puff of air.

"Well, at least you're willing to listen."

"Because I'm being coerced."

A long silence. "Haru, I'm sorry for what happened in the training hall. We have to hash this out now, please. We might not have the time—or the opportunity—later."

There was a quiet, heartbroken little sigh. "How could you, Baron?" asked Haru, her voice quavering. There was a world of hurt in the four small words.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't sure we were about to do the right thing." Baron cleared his throat. "You're a beautiful girl, and I find you attractive, Haru, so for a moment there, it was dangerous... do you understand?"

Haru turned round to look at him. "Do you really mean that?"

"That's the truth, I swear. Please forgive me. I'm aware I told you I was never a playboy, but I must admit I've had one or two dalliances in my time. It's hard for me to live each day bereft of Louise and not wish for a little female companionship now and then. But Haru, those trysts were always done with the stipulation that they would end quickly, with no regret on either side." The Cat closed his eyes. "No regret, but not no pain."

Haru felt the anguish in the Baron's voice. "And if I let this... thing... between us continue, I'm afraid that's all I would end up offering you. A temporary joy, leading ultimately to nowhere. A one-night stand, at worst. Tell me, Haru, is that what you want?" His head came up and his large yellow eyes bored into hers.

Haru spent an eternity in indecision, and it seemed their entire surroundings waited too, with bated breath. The air was warm and oppressive, and the trees had stopped the rustling of their leaves. There was nary a sound, save perhaps there was the whirring of a passing sparrow, or the fluttering of a swallowtail's newly-flexed wings, or the twanging of a silken web as its mistress tested its links; but these passed beneath her notice, for her nerves were thrumming with tension and her mind was preoccupied by the echoing question of 'Should I?'

_Should I?_ Was it indeed what she wanted? A few days', weeks' dalliance with Baron? Something that would in the end turn out fruitless, because he had Louise and she had Kei? Was she really going to encourage them both to betray their loved ones' trust?

After smiling tremulously at the Cat, she stepped up to him and hugged him, pressing her face into the warmth of his chest.

The Baron returned her embrace, silent. "Are you sure about this?"

She nodded, rubbing her cheek against the smooth cloth of his tailcoat.

"Machida?"

Haru looked up at him. "Louise?"

The Cat closed his eyes again. "I see."

Haru's hands bunched the cloth of the Morning Coat. "I wonder if you do, Baron. Let's have no regrets over this, okay? We both deserve a little happiness. I think Louise would understand and forgive you of this indiscretion."

Baron smelled the delicate scent coming off Haru's dark brown locks and kissed her hair. "Yes. But I have to ask, Haru. Afterwards?"

"We'll see. Tell me something, Baron."

"What?"

"Do you feel anything for me?"

"What do you think?"

"Please, no games now. My heart's pounding so bad I can't think."

"So I noticed. Of course I do. If I didn't I wouldn't be standing here holding you like this. It's the reason why I didn't want to be the one to deliver the invitation to the party in the first place."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"I was afraid I'd stir something up between us. You said you had a crush on me years ago. Let's just say I recognized latent feelings of the same type in myself. After all, you're a very pretty and charming girl, and it's not so difficult to fall for you too, Miss Yoshioka."

A smile grew on Haru's lips. "Thank you, Baron."

"I wanted Muta to be the one to give you the invitation, but he was too lazy to do it. I was amenable to the thought of seeing you again after such a long time, though, so I didn't quibble much over the matter. I didn't know it would lead to this..." Baron tightened his embrace. "Haru, I really, really hope I don't hurt you..."

"Likewise," she whispered. She knew she wasn't the only one gambling with her feelings.

They spent a minute or two enfolded in each other's arms. Then the Cat gently took hold of Haru's slender limbs, balled up her hands in his own, and planted little kisses on her knuckles and the backs of her fingers. "Under what star was I made," wondered he as he did so, "that I should have young ladies like yourself throwing their hearts at my feet?"

A curious warmth flooded Haru's heart as she smiled shyly up at the Cat. "Under an ascendant Venus, I guess," she said. When Baron had stopped kissing her digits she went back to hugging him, so enamored was she at that moment that she didn't want to be separated from him by the least inch. He had accepted her offer; there was nothing else in the world to compare with that happiness, short-lived though it must be. "I'll stay with you until we find Louise. Don't worry, dear heart. I won't ask much from you. Except for tonight."

"Huh? What about tonight?" The Cat suddenly felt very nervous.

"Nothing. Just wait for me."

------oOo------

When they emerged from the stand of trees they found the Stormy Cats lined up on either side of the path back. They had the looks of kitties who had gotten at the cream; some eyed them smugly, while others had puffed cheeks and bitten-in lips, clearly trying to prevent themselves from bursting out into laughter. One cat who let out a high-pitched mewing laugh was instantly clouted on the pate by his colleague with the pommel of his very own sword.

At the further end of the formation was Gabriel, standing in the middle of the way. He, too, had a self-satisfied smile on his face.

At his command the Cats drew their swords out and crossed them over the path, forming a tunnel through which Baron and Haru had to walk through. They then proceeded to butcher-sing their way through a caterwauling rendition of Mendelssohn's_ Wedding March._

Haru's cheeks flamed more fiercely, and she closed ranks with Baron, who in turn took her left arm and linked it with his right.

"My dear cats, you're embarrassing the lady," he reprimanded the commandos as patted Haru's hand in reassurance. "I had thought better of elites such as you. Gabriel, I expect this is your idea of a joke."

"Certainly it is," the Swordmaster answered, grinning a toothy grin. "You two were so taken in by each other that two of us sneaked close by without either of you noticing."

"Y-you mean you heard?" Haru whined. She felt like dying.

Gabriel's wide grin was a mixture of the teasing and paternal. "Enough to know what you two were doing."

She suddenly felt Baron stiffen. "Haru, just say the word, and I'll demand satisfaction from the two miscreants who embarrassed you. And I." His hand grasped the grip of his walking stick.

"No, no, it's okay, Baron," Haru said, pacifying him. "Please."

"We were just kidding, Baron," said one of the Cats. "We didn't mean to offend you or Miss Haru. At any rate, what harm's a few overheard words going to cause?"

"Just don't do it again," the Cat warned, and he and Haru finished crossing the tunnel of swords and headed back to the farmhouse. Behind them, the Stormy Cats lowered their weapons and sheathed them in the scabbards hanging from their baldrics.

"Let's go," Gabriel ordered his soldiers, still chortling.

Something whizzed over them and knocked them flat on their faces. Uttering various curses, they raised their heads and saw a large black bird flying away from them. They also saw a large cream-white cat with one brown ear hanging onto its legs, yelling imprecations at it.

"C'mere, you lily-livered excuse for a crow!" they heard it roar. "Just bend your neck a little so I can tear your throat out!"

"Sorry, Gabriel!" came the belated apology from the crow.


	12. Mikazuki no Hi

_**WARNING**_: Both the Scarlet Diaries have sequences mentioning consensual sex between two married adults.

* * *

_What is a writer? A person on whom nothing is lost._**  
**

** THE SCARLET DIARIES:**  
** Extracts from a little book found in the Cat Kingdom**

**THE DAY OF THE NEW MOON**

_Shizuku Tsukishima again, little notebook, here in a little room in the fortress of New Lorum. I'm so glad Seiji bought you for me. I feel I have to write these things down now, because so much is happening I don't think I can trust my memory to remember it all when we get back home._

_After I had cured the farmer's wife, I woke up late that night and found myself on a hard, uncomfortable bed. It turned out to be the farmer's, and Seiji was sitting in a chair beside it, watching over me. It always gives me a great sense of security to see him like that. I feel as though I have nothing to worry about when he's at my side, because he won't let any harm come to me. He's a boon to my existence, even if he can be seventeen kinds of a jerk at times._

_But I'm afraid I'm harming him myself, because I'm making him worry about me. In the candlelight, I saw the rings around his eyes and told him to get some sleep, but he said he was all right and tried to feed me some soup and bread he had saved from the evening meal. I told him I could manage, but you know Seiji; not a quarter of an hour had passed after I woke up and we were quarreling again. I gave in to him, and when we had finished I told him to lie beside me. He did, and fell on the bed like a spineless sack of rice - a very heavy one. I pushed him off me and straightened him out, only to find him snoring away. I didn't want to disturb him any more, so I covered him with the blanket that had been over me, blew out the candle, and felt my way out of the room. _

_The fireplace was lit, and I saw the farmer and his children sleeping on a mat on the dirt floor. I felt sorry for them; why is it that even here there have to be rich and poor people, like in our world? In Narnia, or in Hans Christian Andersen, or in the Andrew Lang collection of fairy tales there are always those who are poor and downtrodden, as in real life. Why must all these worlds be such? Can humans really not imagine a perfect world, one without them? But I never thought I'd find myself experiencing a fairy tale from the inside, if you know what I mean. I guess these cats do have a small consolation, that here in their Kingdom there are no humans to compound their suffering._

_I tiptoed outside. As I expected, there were a couple of campfires. Otherwise, though, it was pitch-dark, and the stars were brilliant tonight. You could see so much more of them than you could in the city, because there were no earthly lights to drown them out. They literally covered the sky, like diamonds strewn on velvet._

_I walked towards the brighter of the two campfires and barely avoided stepping on Muta's outflung paw. I thought he was lying against some sort of boulder, until I realized it was Toto the crow, back in his stone form again. I wonder, do he and Baron dream while they're inanimate? What sort of sleep does a statue sleep?_

_ I made my way past them and saw the soldier cats sleeping in a circle, with their feet towards the campfire. Everyone I saw looked to be off in dreamland, so I sat down and warmed myself by the flames for a minute before I saw something in the shadows. I got up and went to see what it was._

_It was Sir Cat and Haru-chan. They were lying underneath a tree, asleep in each other's arms. She had her head on his chest, and I swear she was smiling. I could see their hands with fingers interlaced around each other. Baron's gray tailcoat covered her and his carpetbag served as their pillow._

_My first reaction was shock. I didn't know what had transpired during the rest of the day, so I had no idea why they were sleeping together. Then I felt embarrassed for them, so I backed away as quietly as I could and returned to the house._

_As I passed by the campfire a voice spoke out of the shadows. It was Gabriel, and he appeared like a ghost out of the darkness. He beckoned to me, and I walked towards him._

_He sat down on the ground, just out of the firelight, and motioned for me to do the same. He asked me how I was, and told me that the mama cat was doing fine. I said that I was glad to be of some help. Then I pointed in Baron and Haru's direction, and he understood me enough to know what I was getting at. He filled me in on what had happened._

_I don't want to sound old-fashioned, but I felt bad when I learned what the two were up to. 'Cat or human?' Haru had asked me to choose for her. It looked like she already made her choice. They had their loves, so what was the meaning of this? Maybe my disquiet showed on my face, because Gabriel spoke up and said that it wasn't for me to judge them._

_Unpleasant though the thought of what the two were doing was, I just couldn't bring myself to condemn them, since I felt I had yet to hear their thoughts on the matter. So I settled for agreeing with the quiet old cat. I thought that maybe I should wish Haru joy in what she was undertaking, but I couldn't picture myself doing that either. Finally I gave up thinking about it and said good night to Gabriel. He nodded to me—I can still remember how startled I was when his eyes glowed—and pulled his cloak tighter around him and went back on sentry duty._

_I made my way back to the farmer's house and re-entered the bedroom. After feeling my way to the bed, I crawled in beside Seiji. He must've sensed my return, because he groaned and threw an arm around me, trapping me half underneath him. I wriggled out from under him, fought for a share of the rickety bed and looked out into the darkness until sleep came back to claim me. One of the last things I remember thinking was what Haru was going to do when she came back to Tokyo and her boyfriend._

------oOo------

_We didn't need to have worried about reaching our mysterious unnamed destination in time. Grateful for what we had done for him and his family, the farmer cat, Hotokegi, approached us at breakfast and offered to lead us through a shortcut to our destination. It was an unused trail that started near the house and was now overgrown with weeds._

_Baron and Gabriel accepted. According to them, if we followed the usual road we wouldn't get there in time, for it looped away to the south a long distance to avoid some bogs and marshes. The farmer assured them that this way was much shorter and traced it out on the soil. We got ready to leave._

_As I was checking my bags Sanpei the tortoiseshell came up to me and presented me with a bunch of violet-colored wildflowers carefully wrapped in paper._

_"Thank you," I said. "That's so sweet of you!" I wondered where she got them, and asked. She pointed to the roof of her house._

_"There," she said proudly. "The roof blooms sometimes."_

_"Really? It must be pretty when all the flowers are out." How different that must look from our _danchi! _Despite the regulations and ordinances, the owner hasn't put up as much greenery on its roof as Seiji and I would've liked, so we occasionally have a little rooftop-party with a couple of friends over in the next building, which has more plants._

_"Yes, oba-sama, it's very pretty."_

_"Thank you." I pinched her cheek and she giggled. She looked so cute that for a moment I had the irrational urge to take her with me. Then I remembered my own wish, and in a sudden surge of melancholy had to pat her head and tell her to go back to her mother, who was watching us from a chair set by the front door. Kinhira was her name, if I remember correctly. She was weak but would recover._

_The little kitten ran back to her mom and waved at me bashfully from behind the chair. I waved back, and out popped Yuuzo from behind his sister. He also grinned and waved, then ran away._

_After our final preparations we took our leave of the family and left, following the father on his bird-horse across the fields. He led us to a gap in the worn wooden fence surrounding his property. It had strange egg-shaped statues flanking it. We passed it and headed to where the land dipped towards a river and woods._

------oOo------

_Anyway, to continue: after four hours' walk we came to a deep cutting in a hill. Gabriel and Baron called a halt, and said we were there. The calico marveled at the time we had saved; Baron said we were just in time, and led all of us into the dark cleft._

_There was a door there, standing in the shadow of the cliffs. Who had placed it there, no one knew, not even Sir Cat; but he assured me that what was beyond it was nothing to fear, especially by me._

_I turned to Seiji, and he asked, "This is your surprise? Nothing with big fangs is going to come out of there and eat us, will it?"_

_"Of course not," Baron said in mild reproof. Seiji, unconvinced, walked up to the door and looked round the other side._

_"What the heck is this?" we all heard him say. "There's nothing here! It's just a plain old door!"_

_"Ah!" said Baron. "Seiji-kun, don't open it from that side! Something bad might happen!"_

_Chastened, my husband drew back and rejoined us. As he did, the Baron turned to us and began to talk._

_"This door leads to a place between places," he said. "Some of you might have heard of it, most of you probably have not. When you enter, you must not be deceived by your senses. What is far will seem near, and what is near is actually very far. We will be catching the wind in there and flying to where we can reach New Lorum, through another door."_

_"This is all making zero sense to me," I heard Moon mutter._

_"Don't worry. Your body will know what to do when the time comes," assured Baron. "Each of you must find a partner and hold on. Whatever happens, you must hold on! I will take the lead, and the rest of you will follow. Don't lose sight of each other." Then he strode up to the door and opened it._

_I already knew what I was going to see: a surreal landscape—or rather, skyscape—of islands floating in the blue, with houses or trees or bizarrely-shaped mountains on them, and a green land underneath that stretched into forever. The door opened up onto a _laputa_—a floating isle—itself, and Baron stepped through. He gestured for Haru, and she took his hand and stepped through the portal. Then Sir Cat motioned for me. Seiji's hand clasped mine; I looked up and smiled at him, then we both walked through the doorway._

_There was a strong wind, like the last time Baron and I visited this place. The earth slowly drifted by beneath us, thousands of meters below. At least, it looked that way._

_I looked back at Sir Cat, and he was in his Morning Coat again. But Haru, she was no longer in her white blouse and leggings, and her bags were gone. She... she was dressed in an outfit I had seen before, long-skirted, lace-fringed, of a pale-blue color. A summer hat with a wide brim sat on her head._

_It was the dress of Louise._

_I had no time to boggle over the change, because Seiji himself yelled beside me. I turned to him, and saw his attire had changed into something much like the Baron's. A pure white tailcoat, top hat, and trousers, a waistcoat of burnished brown, and a red cravat with a little gold pin in the middle. He wore white shoes and even had his own cane. And like Haru, his bags were also missing._

_But it seemed all of that was lost on him, because all he kept saying was "Your hair! What happened to your hair?"_

_I pulled a section over my eyes to see what he meant. My hair had turned as red as my blouse. I laughed._

_"Doesn't it suit me?" I asked him. "Don't you like me with red hair?"_

_Seiji laughed back. "No, I'd rather have you with black. They say redheads are notoriously bad-tempered and tough to deal with."_

_That earned him a pinch on the shoulder and a kiss on the cheek._

_Everyone was filing in behind us, and when we were all gathered Baron said he and Haru would test the winds first. Then the rest should follow, and as long as we kept each other in sight there would be no problem._

_"What'll happen if we fall down there?" asked one of the soldiers, pointing to the land below us._

_Baron looked at him. "I don't know. This is the day of the new moon, when the planetoids gather. So..." Pulling Haru after him, he stepped off into thin air and dropped out of sight with her. We gasped. Then—as I had expected—they zoomed up into view, caught in an updraft that would soon bring them, and the rest of us as well, to our destination. _

------oOo------

_I still cannot find words to express the experience. I write them down, and they seem adequate at first. But when I return to them later, I find that they are nothing but mere shadows and hints of the incident, mere echoes of the symphony that played itself out all around me and then was lost forever. They are vessels laid in shallow graves of corrasable bond, simulacra of the real thing._

_You might know what it's like to fly in an airship, like I have. Let's take that as a starting point. You sit in a gondola beneath a huge bag of gas, and only hear a whisper of the wind as it passes by the acrylic windows. Now, instead of that, instead of being isolated from the wind and sky like a goldfish in a bowl, what if you felt the air as a soft wave supporting you, carrying you aloft, quickly and quietly, to your destination, through a route of its own choosing? Take away the noisy drone of the engines, remove the wires and seats and gas envelope, make the joystick and other controls and instruments disappear; you're utterly on your own. And you are totally free, to make even the fickle wind itself bend to your will._

_It takes getting used to. Even though it was my second trip, I still felt scared and excited as we soared past the islands and houses, like eagles on the wing. I think I was better off than Seiji, though: he kept holding on to his hat and wobbling beside me, and held my hand in a grip so tight it hurt. I told him he had nothing to worry about, that I would protect him. Just a while ago he told me that got his attention. After looking out for me in all the years of our relationship, that was something he had never expected me to say._

_I happened to look back and saw the funniest things: the cats behind us were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Moon and Toto were with each other. The cat was saying something about how unreliable Toto was and how he worried his friend would drop him, while the gargoyle replied that if he didn't shut up he _would_ drop him. Some of the soldier cats took it upon themselves to provide their own amusement during the trip: a pair were busily flapping their arms and squawking like geese, while some from the quartermasters watched, bemused; another was riding the back of his comrade like a surfer on a boogie board, while still another pair did their best imitation of superheros, their arms punched out in front of them while humming the themes of Tetsuwan Atom and Ultraman; a lazy set contented themselves with floating on their backs and doing the backstroke, while the last funny pair mimed walking along while belting out "Aruko! Aruko! Watashi wa genki! Aruku no daisuki..." It was a sight I don't think I'll soon forget._

_Then I looked forward again, and off to one side I saw Baron and Haru. They were lost in their own world. Baron had her firmly against his side. Haru's free hand held on to her hat; the other wound itself around his back. They alternated between talking animatedly to each other and looking at their surroundings, and their faces were so close together all they needed to do to kiss was just lean forward a bit. But they never did._

_Of course I was slightly envious. I always thought of Baron as being partly my creation, but it never entered my mind to think romantically of him. After all, he and Louise belonged to each other, and my relationship with Seiji was starting up around the time I first encountered him as well. _

_It's strange, how my fate and Seiji's were intertwined with a statuette with scratched eyes and a trio of cats. If it weren't for Moon and Luna I would never have discovered the Earth Shop and the Baron, nor would I have found out Kouji and Seiji's lurking place. I might not have gotten to know the boy who became my husband; he would've just remained an interesting oddity, a mysterious name on all those books. And I would have lost a world of happiness to violins and paintings and Italy to some other woman. Sure, he bugs me, he teases me unmercifully about my height and my health, he can be overbearing at times, and he's too opinionated for his own good. But I still love him. That, I'll have you know, is not so easy to do, especially when I remember the disparaging things he says to me (he has never quit doing that since high school, unfortunately). They make me want to strangle him. _

_What would I be now, if I hadn't come across him, or the cats? An office lady? A teacher, like Kousaka-sensei? A lonely, struggling writer? Who knows? All I can be sure about is that without his example and my own testing of myself, I wouldn't have found the strength and courage to find my own path in life. It's just like my father said: it's a very difficult road to travel. But I've chosen it nonetheless, and the reward satisfies something indefinable in my soul._

_There's one other thing I'd also like to recall: at one point during our traveling Seiji whispered something in my ear which made my toes tingle and curl, as it embarrassed me. But I have to admit it was intriguing. What if, he suggested, we could make love on the wing, like swallows did? I laughed nervously and said I wouldn't do such a thing in front of Haru, Toto, and all the cats. There was genuine disappointment in his eyes as he nodded. "Too bad we'll never pass this way again," he said regretfully, squeezing my hand. He looked so sad I hated it when he did that. It got me all hot and bothered, and really, I wonder what it would feel like to make love to him while soaring through the sky..._

_Oh, oh. Seiji's calling, telling me it's time for us to join the others for dinner, so I have to make this short. After a couple of hours we landed at another _laputa. _There was another door there, and after a head count we passed through. Immediately into our view came the old, sprawling fortress-town of New Lorum on its peninsula, and the sea. It was already late in the afternoon when we arrived. The water was sparkling, and the old stones were bathed in a warm, welcoming yellow glow. Gabriel took us—now back to our ordinary selves—to the ivied main gate and they let us in. A cat by the name of Windamary assigned us to several rooms, and now here we are._

_Speaking of Gabriel, he and several of the Stormy Cats have gone. I don't know where, but Baron went with them, and I haven't seen them until now. Stay tuned, I'll keep my eyes and ears open._


	13. The Happy Shout of My Heart

**THE SCARLET DIARIES:  
Extracts from a little book found in the Cat Kingdom**

**THE HAPPY SHOUT OF MY HEART**

_I found her today in the sea. Haru Yoshioka, in case you still don't know whom I'm referring to. She was swimming in the rough midday waters in a cove near the fortress, and she was all alone. Some folded-up towels lying on a boulder on the rocky shore and a little bag on them greeted my eyes as I strolled towards her._

_It was the fourth day of our stay, and the first of King Lune's troops were just beginning to trickle in to the fortification, looking for all the world like they had rushed through a minefield before getting here. Their countenances were far more different than ours when we arrived, and I was thankful for Baron and Gabriel and the flying shortcut we took._

_Fort Lorum, as I have discovered, is charmingly anachronistic and yet modern, like the rest of the Cat Kingdom. Thick old stone encompasses the sprawling fort proper, which straddles the coastline, while Tudor-like dwellings with white sidings and wooden beams dark with age form a peaceful contrast to the gray fortification. Here and there on the flowerbox-lined streets you sometimes encounter those mysterious flying eyes the Cats use for security purposes. They pay the golden orbs no mind, but I find them disconcerting. Yesterday I stuck my tongue out at one of them, and Baron commented that around a dozen cats must be laughing in the fort at what I did. I said I didn't care, and kept making faces at it until it sped off._

_The Russian Blue Windamary took us to see one of the troopships moored at one of the piers near the fortress. She, too, was both old and modern at the same time. _Matatabi_ was her name—why was I not surprised? She had a clipper-like hull, but also sported a worryingly modern pair of long-barreled cannon on her front and rear decks, along with various antennas strewn amidships. Instead of the vast panoply of rigging and canvas that sailing ships usually have, however, she had in their place two trim rotating sail arrays fore and aft, and in between a solitary rotor sail, a giant bobbin stood up on one end and stuck in the middle of the ship._

_We—Haru, Baron, Moon, Seiji and I—stepped on board and did a quick look-see. Then we separated. Baron, accompanied by his large friend, went back to Gabriel, saying that they had a lot of things to prepare, while Haru, Seiji and I walked at our leisure around town. (These little cards Lune gave to us are proving very handy. I wonder why I haven't gone on a shopping spree yet.) Then we spent the evening at a pub in the fort named _La Ballade de Piano en Pierre,_ and Seiji jammed with the cats there. They got along so well together that they arranged a little session for today, and so my dear left me alone to do what I wish. No flying or healing was his only warning to me._

_I had asked around for Haru, been given directions as to where she was last seen, and found her in the sea, and I strolled up to where her things were and waited for her to come out of the water. I wondered what _mizugi_ she was wearing, as I hadn't seen her buying anything yesterday, nor did she appear to have brought any along with her from our world._

_Haru seemed ensconced in her private sanctuary, so I let her alone. I had waited about an hour before she emerged from the water. I saw that she was wearing what appeared to be an opaque, long-sleeved white t-shirt. She spotted me and modestly covered herself up._

_"Ohayou," I greeted as she came towards me. "Enjoy your swim?"_

_She smiled as she reached the side of the boulder. "Yes. I thought I was all alone here." She levered herself up and sat on the rock beside me, on my left. She's a beautiful girl, Haru is. Much taller and prettier than I am. The only person I know who'd dispute that is Seiji, and is one of the reasons why I keep him around. Teehee._

_"I wish I'd thought of taking a dip," I said. The waves boomed and hissed onto the shore. "Did you get that in town?" I pointed at the outlines visible through her wet shirt._

_"Uh, no, sensei. Actually, I'm wearing a set of what Yuki had made for me. Some are suitable as swimwear anyway, and I didn't expect company, so I thought that wearing them and this shirt would suffice."_

_I tapped an index finger against my chin. "You know, that shirt looks awfully familiar."_

_Haru looked down at herself. "It does?"_

_It clicked into place. "I have it! That's Baron's, isn't it? It's his style—ruffled at the buttons, a rather conservative cut... only how'd you get into it?" I lifted an eyebrow._

_"I, uh, well..." She blushed a deep red. Being fair-skinned is rotten if one wishes to hide one's feelings. The cats are lucky they have all that fur to hide their skin. Then again, it's a dead giveaway to when they're frightened or startled._

_"I borrowed it from him," Haru admitted finally, and with the set look on her face of a person who has seen what rocks and shoals lie ahead of her ship and thought, in the best Farragut fashion, damn all the torpedoes, full steam ahead! "You know, Baron Humbert von Jikkingen." Her voice went down in volume a couple of notches. "He has the strangest things in that bag of his."_

_"Oh?" A challenge, if ever I heard one. "And how would you know?"_

_Haru looked sidelong at me. I don't know if she rolled her eyes beforehand. It sure looked like it. "I peeked."_

_"Really?" My turn. "You shouldn't go tampering with other people's things."_

_"I wasn't tampering. Merely borrowing. And he knows it."_

_I don't know if Haru has ever realized it, but I—a woman—could hear 'SEDUCTION' screaming off her voice as if it were being blasted through a megaphone straight into my ear. She knows how to turn it on, I'll give her that._

_"And is Sir Cat happy with you borrowing his... stuff?" _

_She didn't answer. Instead she bunched her long pale legs up and hugged her knees. _

_"Shizuku-sensei, are you happy about me... borrowing what Baron owns?" A lovely game, this skirting around the real issue._

_I thought the time was right to come clean. "Not really, Haru. I mean, are you two happy right now?"_

_"Yes, we are."_

_"And in the future?"_

_"In the future?" There was a little chuckle. "What future, sensei? You know this has no future as well as I do." A particularly strong roller reached the base of our boulder, hissing, trying to reach up with white fingers of foam and failing._

_"Then why did you do it?"_

_"Do what?"_

_"Er... borrow him, whatever you want to call it, Haru." I shrugged a little. "I don't want to see either of you get hurt."_

_Haru looked out at the sea so long I thought she wasn't going to speak any more. "I want his love, sensei. Even for a little while only. Then Louise can have him back. But even that little while is better than spending the rest of my life wondering what it would feel like... to care for him. It's selfish, I know. Please don't lecture me on it."_

_"If I were my father, the first thing I'd say would be that you needed that lecture. But I'd rather not judge you, Haru. You alone walk the path you chose, like I did long ago."_

_"Though it would go through a valley of rusted nails and broken bottles, and I walk it barefoot," she intoned sadly, taking a towel from her things and putting it over her shoulders. "Sensei, I'm glad."_

_"About what?"_

_"That you didn't condemn me out of hand, like I thought you would."_

_"I'm not approving your relationship either, but I don't think you'd care one way or the other."_

_"Oh, that's just not true." Haru unfolded herself and stood up on the rock, and I found myself looking at a lithe expanse of water-beaded legs and thigh. "I do care about what you say about it. After all, Baron's sort of your creation too, isn't he?"_

_"Maybe. Now I'm confused about that too. Perhaps I was just deluding myself. Maybe we all are. In fact, right now we may be stuck in a fairy tale ourselves, and not know it at all."_

_"Oh, sensei. Still as fanciful as ever. You know," she said, suddenly looking down at me, the sun shining through her wet hair blinding me, "I thought you might be jealous of... Baron and I."_

_I had to laugh. "Really? Why should I be?"_

_"I'm not sure I know. You came before I did into his life, and yet... didn't you feel anything towards him?"_

_"No. At least, not anything close to what you're feeling for him." I recalled the brown-suited figurine standing on the Earth Shop table, and how he seemed to change expression when I addressed him. "He disturbed me. Besides, I was only fourteen and knew him only as a wonderful statuette and a figment of my imagination. Even if I had known he was real, he still had to compete against a mysterious boy whose snide comments about my interests infuriated me." I grinned. "Why, you want some competition for Baron's affections? I think I could give you a run for your money."_

_"What?" She looked so cute, like a Hello Kitty doll with a shocked expression on its face. She made little waving motions with her hands. "N-no, no, of course not! I'd rather not spend what little time I have dueling for him with you, of all people. And anyway, isn't Seiji-sensei going to get mad if you do that?"_

_"Yeah, of course he is. I was only joking. You can have Sir Cat all to yourself. Haru, I don't think I need to tell you this, but please... be prepared for when you have to give him up." _

_Her reply was a decidedly noncommittal shrug. "We'll see what happens."_

_I turned the topic away from her and Baron, and we talked about our interests and our school friends and the various places we had visited and seen. She was amiable enough to be a good talker, and I learned a few things about her then._

_It was during this time that she pointed at the water and asked me if I wasn't going to take a dip myself. I told her I hadn't brought anything along, but she assured me that she had enough towels and knickknacks for us both. The sea looked turbulent, but the prospect of having a swim in the cold unknown of a faraway land was too inviting for me to resist._

_I asked Haru if she had any problems with me disrobing in front of her. She shook her head, so I took off my white dress and, giggling like a little girl, ran clad only in my undies into the sea. The water was bracing and invigorating, and I would've swum until I tired myself out thoroughly, but Haru called me and made me come out long before it came to that. I guess Seiji's told her a thing or two about my tendency to overexert myself, or she's figured it out on her own. _

_As I got back out she tossed a towel to me. I wrapped it around myself and hopped onto the rock. We sat there like two fishermen's wives or old-time American Indian squaws huddled in front of a campfire._

_"That was fun," I remarked. "Never thought I'd get to swim in the sea of another world."_

_"Yeah. Shizuku-sensei, are you cold?"_

_"No. Why do you ask?"_

_"You're trembling."_

_"Ah, that's nothing. It'll pass, don't worry." Sometimes my body reacts that way to frigid water, but it's never anything serious._

_Probably she didn't believe me, so Haru said, "We'd better change back into our clothes."_

_"Oh, not yet, I don't feel like it."_

_"Seiji-sensei will never forgive me if you catch a cold."_

_I shook my head. "Nope. See, the tremors are going. Let's just sit here a while, okay?"_

_She gave in, but remained pressed against my side, as if trying to let the warmth of her body bleed into mine. I remember thinking at the time, how sweet and thoughtful of her to worry about me, someone who had been until recently an utter stranger._

_I remembered a question I'd been wanting to ask her since yesterday. "Haru, can I ask you something?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"What's it like, kissing Baron?"_

_Her face glowed like a stoplight again. "Honestly, sensei, you do say the most embarrassing things at times."_

_"So Seiji's told me. Well?"_

_"I... I wouldn't know. I haven't."_

_"You haven't?"_

_"I'm, well, waiting for him to do so."_

_"But I saw you sleeping together–"_

_"That's all we've done, and only on that occasion. Baron's too much of a gentleman to do more. In fact, he wouldn't even enter my room last night. According to him it was already much too unseemly, the way he was knocking on my door that late. I think he was afraid people might talk. He just called to see if I was okay, then upped and left."_

_"So you feel deprived?"_

_"Just a little." Haru smiled impishly. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want at least a kiss from him. But my heart is full, sensei. The companionship suits me just fine. I couldn't really ask for more, and I don't want to."_

_I was silent for a while. My mind was churning. Just what did Haru want out of their relationship? I know of no mutual attraction that can withstand the twin lures of lust and sentimentality, that doesn't sooner or later turn physical. I guess she's far sturdier than I imagined. Or perhaps she just wants the love and none of the complications physicality would bring. Yes, Baron would be ideal for something like that. Human enough to feel and act like she does, yet probably different enough that the physical details of such a relationship would indeed require some doing._

_I can't believe how cold-blooded I am sometimes. Baron's not a lab animal, not a sideshow freak in some circus. He's a living, breathing being who happens to be a little different from the rest of us, that's all. And yet I can find myself thinking of him that way... what separates me from someone like the Doctor, who probably thinks of people in that manner too? I fear to delve too deep into the subject. Maybe it's because I'm afraid I might discover that only circumstance makes me different, and that in some other time, some other place, there might have been Shizuku Tsukishima the tyrant, who led millions to their deaths, for some asinine ideal._

------oOo------

_We stayed for maybe half an hour, then ran back into the water for one last splash before racing back out and stripping our wet underwear off. I could manage with my towel still wrapped around me; Haru, after a thorough look-around, had to go _au naturel_ because she found out too late that Yuki's custom-made underclothes were not colorfast, and had stained Baron's shirt. She removed all of them, then put on her old garments, the blouse she had worn when she had first arrived in the Cat Kingdom, and her drab leggings and black boots._

_I put my own dress on and fastened its belt around my waist. Haru gathered her things up and we headed back to the fortress. We both combed our hair with our fingers as we walked, because we forgot to bring brushes._

_ As we made our way to _La Ballade_ for lunch, I asked her where she got the golden medallion hanging around her neck. She told me she had made it herself, as a way of remembering Baron and the Cat Business Office after her first adventure with them. It was another demonstration to me of how strong her feelings towards the cats—and one Cat in particular—were. In turn, she asked me if I knew why Seiji and I didn't turn into felines when we first arrived in the Cat Kingdom, like she did. I answered that I didn't know. _

------oOo------

_Lunch was long over, and, having passed by our rooms to appropriate some missing articles of clothing, we parked ourselves on top of one of Fort Lorum's large round turrets, that sat hard by the water. It was spacious enough for Haru to practice there, and that afternoon she was doing exactly that, running through forms that reminded me a lot of _wushu_ with weapons. She looked like she was dueling with the wind off the sea, fluid and graceful as it itself. I stood off to one side with a pair of garrison cats, interested onlookers, all of us._

_"She has nice form," I heard one mutter, his tail twitching. His fellow nodded. "Mum, are ye goin' into battle with the King himself, then?"_

_I shook my head. "She is. But I'm staying on the ship, where it's nice and safe." It's another peculiarity of this world that I've noticed, that I can understand everyone else, even if we're all talking in different languages. I wish that when we return home the ability would stay with me. Then at least I'd know what Seiji was joking about with those girls from the academy in Cremona..._

_The cat who had addressed me, a male of a dirty whitish-brown color with black mackerel stripes, wearing Lune's troops' red cavalry uniform with gold trim, laughed loudly. "I'd like to do that, myself. But we aren't here to play games, begging your pardon, Lady Shizuku."_

_Lady Shizuku. That's something I never expected to hear myself called. I'm sort of growing fond of the term. Maybe when we go back home I'll start calling Seiji 'Sir Seiji' in private. Not in public. That'll surely swell his head up._

_Haru finished up her form. She landed with her knees bent, facing one direction, then raised her left boot behind her right calf, sole up. She arced her sword through the air above her head and bapped its point against the boot. Then she straightened out and did a whirling sort of motion with her arms and weapon extended. She followed it up by jump-kicking into the air, then landing, and stabbing out with her sword. Then she planted her poniard point down on the ground, edge away from her, and genuflected behind it. Her hair, in disarray, covered her face but not her mouth, which I could see was open. She was breathing hard, and when she looked up again she saw me watching her and smiled. She stood up and wiped her brow with the back of her hand._

_"How was I?" she asked, her cheeks sparkling with dew in the afternoon sunlight as she approached me, sheathing her sword._

_"Whatever you call it," I said, "it looked pretty." A beautiful way to send someone to the grave, I thought. "Will you practice with Baron and Gabriel again?"_

_"Maybe. Not just now. He said they were going to be occupied the whole day today. I'm going back to my room to shower. I don't look indecent, do I?"_

_"No. I'll go back with you," I said. "I've been having trouble keeping this skirt down in this wind. I don't want to imitate Marilyn Monroe just now. I'm not sure the cats would appreciate it."_

_Haru chuckled, and her soft-edged voice was a pleasure to hear. "Feeling drafty, eh, sensei? Come on, you've got nice legs. They remind me of a young boy's. Why don't you show them off?" So saying, she flicked my skirt up with the point of her scabbard. I shrieked and slapped it back down._

_"Haru! The nerve-!"_

_She grinned and ran down the stairs, and I chased after her. I could hear the cats laughing in their peculiar mewing fashion as we left. When I caught her down in the main hall we just stood there holding on to one another for support, laughing like a pair of loons. Ladies-in-waiting, soldiers, officers, and other gentlefolk stared at us, but we were giddy and happy and didn't care._

_We went back to our rooms. Seiji was in ours, and asked if I wanted to listen that night to him and the musicians in _La Ballade._ I readily agreed. And because I was happy that afternoon, and partly because I was feeling sorry for him being unable to fulfill his fantasy of making love on the wing, I cast my reservations to the cool wind coming in from the open windows and gave myself up to him in the bright yellow sunlight. When had we finished, we sat in the middle of the bed, entwined around each other, I in his lap, tired and happy. He had ended up totally naked, while I was still in my dress—not our usual state of affairs. _

_"Shicchan!" he panted, squeezing my thigh. "Now how am I supposed to find the strength to play with the band tonight?"_

_"I don't know," I giggled. I wiped the sweat off his face and chest with his shirt. "That's not my problem! In fact, I think I'd like another..." You can probably guess what happened next._

------oOo------

_Speaking of Baron and Gabriel, I found out why they and some of the Stormy Cats disappeared the very night we arrived at New Lorum. Without resting they actually made their way to the Lonely Isles and scouted the pirates' hideout! Amazing!_


	14. The Plan Revealed

**Author's Note:**_tadsgirl,_ saw your note and had to reply. To quote from Harry Secombe in _The Fireball of Milton Street,_ a Goon Show: "Take a hundred lines: 'I will not try to guess the end of Goon Show gags.'" :)

_Ellenlome,_ here's the next chapter. You don't have to wait forever. I'm far ahead of this, actually. Just thought I'd tease you by letting you know :) But since I have no beta, I let each chapter rest in an oven for a few days before taking a look at it again. Then I rewrite on the crispy brown glass of my monitor—a lot.

_Alea Ishikawa,_ did I upset you that much? Sorry. Chapter 11 didn't write itself out the way that I wanted it to. As untrue as it may sound, Haru and Baron were always escaping from me at that time, and heading in that direction you hated. I, too, disagreed with what they were doing, but it was another challenge, and writing them another way seemed phony. Ah, but who am I kidding? I'm sorry I soiled Baron/Haru for you. My only defense is to paraphrase what _Porco Rosso's_ Gina said to Donald Curtis: "Life here is a lot more complicated than in the outside world." Sophistry aside, though, I've got everything planned out. Note that I did not say, "Don't worry."

* * *

THE PLAN REVEALED

"A _polet_ for your thoughts, Haru."

"Oh, hi, Baron."

"Did you wait long?"

"No, I just got here a few minutes ago."

The Cat sidled up to the young woman standing at the battlements. "What're you looking at?"

"I'm looking for the edge of the sky."

"What?"

"I said I'm looking for the edge of the sky."

"How come?"

"So I can peer beyond it, and see what's happening to my mom, and my friends, and... Kei-chan."

"I see. Haru, I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but I took some liberties shortly after you arrived here."

The college student tucked her windblown hair behind an ear and looked at her otherworldly paramour. "What sort of liberties?"

"Well, in order to allay whatever fears your mother might have about your safety, I gave some instructions to Moon and Luna. I also did the same for Shizuku and Seiji."

"Explain."

Baron elaborated, and at the end of his very short speech Haru was once again miffed.

"You did _that?_ You forged an email in my name, telling them I was running away to the province? Why didn't you consult me?"

"I'm sorry. It didn't occur to me at the time, and I had no chance to reflect or tell you because we were rather busy at that point, if you remember."

"Oh, Baron. I know you mean well, but I wish you had told me beforehand. I haven't even told you what Machida and I were fighting about. Mom must be so mad at him by now."

"I... apologize, Miss Haru. I don't usually have to seek anyone's approval for the things I do, so I humbly beg your pardon for any distress I may have accidentally caused you..."

Haru took Baron's gloved hand in her own. "Baron, Baron, Baron. Always playing the role of the loner, with only Muta and Toto to help you. I understand. Don't worry, I'll find some way to hash it out when I return. And stop talking like a stuffed shirt."

"Haru, you offend me. I _am_ a stuffed shirt, when I'm a figurine..."

They looked at each other and laughed.

"Well, you're a very attractive stuffed shirt," said Haru. "Speaking of which, I'm sorry I ruined the one I borrowed yesterday."

"That's alright. I shall always treasure those stains, that came from garments which served as raiment for such a lovely example of human pulchritude."

"_Kyaa!_"

"There's no need to blush, Haru, I'm just speaking the truth."

"Well, thank you, but still, I'm embarrassed." Haru smooth the skirt of her pale-yellow dress.

"Sorry. I meant it as a compliment." He looked out at the early morning sky. "About compliments... thank you for the backward one you gave me."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The Cat looked sidelong at her. "Last night Shizuku-chan told me... you wanted a kiss."

"She did?" Haru looked flustered as she sought a way out of her predicament. "Oh, oh, oh... why'd she have to tell you?"

"Do you, Haru? Or am I just pandering to my own ego?"

"No, it's true. Although I wanted to be the one to ask you myself... Kiss me, Baron, if you will."

The Cat gestured with his hands. "Like this? Doesn't my appearance put you off? After all, it's like an ancient Egyptian asking Anubis or Thoth for a smooch."

"I really don't care. Why are you comparing yourself to a god of death?" Haru complained. "Don't you find _my_ looks offputting too?"

"No, of course not."

"Well, then, we're even. What would you like?"

"I'd like to cater to your wishes first."

"Alright. Close your eyes."

The Cat complied. "And?"

Haru kissed him. She was concerned she wouldn't like the sensation, but her worry turned out to be needless. It wasn't that different from kissing a man. And you faced yellow eyes so big you could drown in them while kissing him. No hairballs either, she chuckled inwardly. Just a gentle thrill in her veins that built up into a crescendo, and a sweetness that lingered after she had stopped touching her lips to his. At long last, she knew what kissing the Cat felt like. The next time Shizuku-sensei asked, she knew what to answer.

She removed her hands from his cheeks, softly stroking his fur as she did so. "Well?" she croaked, her voice unsteady. "D-does that settle your anxiety?"

Baron blinked. "Only if it settles yours as well."

Haru nodded and smiled. "Can we have a take two, dear heart? This time you take the lead."

That Cat was pleased to oblige.

------oOo------

"Shizuku," Seiji called softly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "come on. You look like you're seeing the end of the world. This isn't like you. It isn't right for you to begrudge the Baron or Haru-chan this little happiness of theirs."

Shizuku lowered her head. She had been watching them from one of the windows of their room. "Isn't it? Seiji, you know both of them have different lovers. I just hope they don't all get hurt because these two felt lonely." She grasped at the windowsill. "What about you, _anata?_ If you're abroad, and you stray into the arms of one of those aggressive, beautiful women, should I forgive you? Will I be able to trust you again with my heart, after you play with it like that?"

"Shizuku..."

"Yes, damn you." The young woman suddenly looked around at her husband, and her eyes were brimming with tears. "I'll forgive you the first time, and the time after that, and still afterwards. Because I'm a silly girl who can't stop loving Seiji Amasawa, even if she tried. Keep that in mind when you're tempted to sample some of those earthly Italian delights you always tease me about."

"But Shizuku, I haven't done anything of the sort!" And so began another argument between poor befuddled man, who had no clue as to why his dearest was so upset in the first place, and aggrieved wife.

------oOo------

"Good day to you all," Baron greeted the roomful of seated cats (and one crow and three humans). "I trust that a heavy lunch has not deadened your ability to think." He pointed to the wall behind him, on which was taped a huge hand-drawn map of an island, with various notations and sketches on it. "Gabriel and I will now reveal to you our role in the assault on the Phaecis Gang's hideout."

"It's about time," rumbled Muta from the back. Interestingly enough, he was the one who had turned the chairs on his right sideways, into a sort of nest, so Toto could sit on them. But when Seiji commented on his thoughtfulness, he just brushed it aside with "What are you talking about? I'm just tired of his claws digging into my shoulders, that's all." None of the humans believed him for a moment, and Toto kept his peace.

"The main landing will take place here," said Gabriel, holding his pointer up to the northeast corner of the island. "The King and the ship captains have decided it's too risky to try and thread our way through the rocks and whatnot lying off the pirates' hideout at night, so we're going for an early-morning assault." He paused as a paw was raised. "Yes?"  
"Major, why not use birds? We've been friendly with the Bird Kingdom for a long time now."

"The weather's too foggy. Just imagine the chaos over two hundred birds and their passengers would cause, trying to find the right landing place. Besides, the King has ruled this an internal matter and would rather not ask for help."

The cat who had asked the question nodded.

"To continue. Each troopship will disgorge the Fifth through Seventh Fusiliers in three waves of longboats. Joining us will be the monitors _Foxfire_ and _Longshallows—_"

A collective groan went up from the assembled cats, and Gabriel frowned at them.

"For Heaven's sake, gentlecats, enough with the moaning and groaning. I know the _Longshallows'_ reputation as well as you, but she's got a new crew now, and is newly overhauled."

"She's always being overhauled!" someone shouted. "She's a bloody wet-water ship!"

Gabriel threw a stern glance the dissenter's way. "Look, you guys just shut up for now and let me finish. Anyway, Captain Loriel herself has volunteered to command the _Longshallows._"

The groaning was replaced by a surprised silence, into which Muta threw, "Who's this Captain Loriel?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot my audience. Captain Loriel is the mistress of this fortress. She's the reason why New Lorum has been left alone by the pirates for a long time now, and why it's so prosperous."

"How'd she do that?" interjected Shizuku.

"She defeated Phaecis himself in single combat during a raid, but instead of arresting him, she let him go, with the promise that he never touch this town again. Rumor has it that he was so captivated by her he kept his word and has never set foot within miles of here since then." Gabriel tapped on the wall again. "Alright, enough with the lessons, history or otherwise. As I was saying, the monitors will join us to cover the landings with their guns, and to keep the pirates off our backs should they decide to disrupt the proceedings with their own craft. Our friend Toto and his mates—" Gabriel gestured towards the crow "—have been trying these past few days to discover where the pirates have secreted their vessels, but to no avail. Just so you know how difficult it is trying to infiltrate the pirates' hideout, we've lost two of their number so far."

The humans caught their collective breath. "Toto..." Haru whispered. "I'm sorry. We didn't–"

"It's okay," the crow answered calmly. "They went down doing what they wanted to anyway." His composure was rock-steady, but looking in the round, dark eyes, one could see the sadness lurking within.

"The assault will proceed here, with its express objective of capturing and destroying the Phaecis Gang once and for all." Gabriel pointed out three blue arrows pushing into the island from the northeast. "Our task is to go in before the main force does and disable everything we can, traps, gun batteries, etcetera. The tanuki who collected this information had compiled everything he could get his hands on." He walked to the right of the map and pulled on a red cord which hung from a roller situated high up on the wall. Down came another map. "This is the pirates' hideout."

The crowd murmured. "It looks like a rat's nest," commented one of the commandos.

"Right. I'll go into team breakdowns, goals, and timing later. While most of you are busy sabotaging or disabling the defenses, I and the Cat Business Office agents and some of you will head this way, into the lair of the Black Cat. Take note, this is the only way in or out of her hiding place. All of us will have to avoid engaging the enemy for as long as we can, if we want to get out with whole skins."

"What's the room that path comes from?"

Gabriel smiled. "That, Renaldo Moon, is Phaecis' main hall, according to Shoukichi the tanuki. It seems the rumors are true, and he always keeps a set table with the finest of food there."

The giant cat stirred. "Really? Hmph, good! At least I won't have to fight hungry."

"Here our goals coincide," Baron piped up. " The reason we're going with you is because the Black Cat is... actually my fiancée. We're going to try and take her alive. If we can't do that, Gabriel and those coming with us have orders to kill her themselves."

Haru gasped. All this talk of battle and killing... maybe Baron was right, that she was in over her head and should stay in the fort, where it was safe. No. She promised him, and he didn't shy from danger when he rescued her, did he? She began to rack her brain for a way to capture Louise without harming her.

Fighting was out of the question. She was still unskilled, and the Black Cat had proven treacherous enough the last time. But a new train of thought intruded itself into Haru's mind. Why should she want Louise saved? With her out of the way, Baron would be free, and what was now a temporary situation would easily turn into a permanent one...

_Bakayarou!_ she chastised herself. _How could you even think of such a thing? Do you want Baron so much you're willing to kill his true love to get him? What sort of a person are you, Haru Yoshioka? You were never like this before._

_Of course not,_ another voice, harsher and crueler, replied._ And where has that gotten me? I never get what I really want. I wanted Keio or Tōdai, but we never had the money for that and my grades were never good enough. I wanted a brother or sister, but Mom was always too timid to get into another relationship. I've given up so much these past couple of years. This time I want Baron, and if Louise has to die, so–_

_No, no, no! This is wrong! Whoever you are, get away from me!_ In her distress, Haru put her hands to the sides of her head and clutched at her hair. _Do you honestly think a love tainted like that would ever survive? And I still have Kei-chan._

_Who loves your body, but does he love you? The Baron has shown that he cares for you, Haru. Just think, with Louise out of the way... it's sooo easy, _the voice said, caressing her mind with a nasty sibilance. _A slip here, a mistaken word there... a dagger in the back, like she did to him..._

_No! I'm a better person than that! I couldn't live with him, knowing each day I murdered someone to get where I was! I'd go crazy. And if he ever found out, I think he'd kill me too!_

_Don't you worry about it, darling. Leave everything to good old me..._

It was too much. Excusing herself, Haru stood up in the middle of Baron's lecturing and walked briskly to the door. Then, when she had closed the solid wood, she covered her mouth with a hand and ran down the corridor. She went back to her room to cry.

------oOo------

As she expected, an hour or two later there was an urgent knock on the door.

_Haru,_ she thought.

"Haru!"

_Pin-pon._ _Are you alright?_

"Is everything okay? Are you alright?"

_Let me in._

"It's me, Haru. Please let me in. We're worried about you."

_Huh? We?_

Haru rolled off her bed and got up. She didn't care if she looked like a wreck; she just went and opened the door.

"Goodness! You look terrible."

"Thank you, Baron Humbert von Jikkingen. Oh, hi, everyone. Come on in. I'll give Windamary a call and we can all have a _big_ drinking party here."

Baron came in, followed by Muta and the others.

"_Oi,_ Haru," the fat cat said as he squeezed himself through the doorway, "what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"It's not very polite to walk out while someone's talking," Toto said pointedly as he hopped into the room, after also pushing himself through the doorway.

"Yeah, Haru-chan," Seiji chimed in. "Tell us what's got you upset enough to go walking off like that."

Haru shook her head. She felt as if a gang of inquisitors had just set up shop in her sanctuary. "No way. Please, I appreciate your concern, but I need some time by myself."

"Are you sure?" asked Muta.

"Yes."

"Oh, alright." Muta turned his bulk around and exited the room, followed by Toto, Baron, Seiji, and, last of all, Shizuku, who faced her and spoke.

"You've been crying," she observed, marking the rings around Haru's eyes, the dried tracks down her cheeks, and the crumpled bedsheets as well.

"Well, duh. It's rather obvious, don't you think?"

"No need to get snippy. You can always tell me what's troubling you." Shizuku took one more look at her face, then left with the others, closing the door behind her.

"What's wrong is I haven't been drunk in a very long time," Haru said to the room at large. She walked up to the intercom on the wall and pressed the button. Calling for Windamary, she requested that one bottle each of sake and whiskey be brought up to her room for a group celebration. As usual, she would use the King's pass to pay for what she wanted.

------oOo------

Downing the hatch on an empty stomach was a bad, bad idea, but she went ahead and did it anyway. She didn't eat much for lunch, having been with Baron at the time, so the alcohol went quickly to work on her. Soon she was throwing her pillows around and calling Windamary again, asking her if she could call up her mom to pick her up from Hiromi's place. Then she switched the intercom off and fell to bawling incoherently on the floor. After some minutes of doing so, there was a knock at her door, but she had locked it, so she paid the summons no mind and just told them to go away. At least she thought she did. Then she decided to help herself to some more whiskey and, eyeing the three large French windows in her room, test her ability to fly. If Shizuku-sensei could do it, why couldn't she?

------oOo------

Baron removed his ear from the door and turned to Shizuku. "You were right in telling me to get back here," he said softly. "She's really creating a ruckus in there."

"Why's she so upset, Sir Cat?" Shizuku asked. "You two didn't fight or anything, did you?"

"No. It must be something I said during the briefing." Baron reflected. "Could it be the part where I said Louise was... to be eliminated if we couldn't capture her?"

"Why should that make her crazy? Unless..." Baron watched Shizuku's eyes grow large and her hair bristle outwards as something dawned in her mind.

"Open the door, Baron. I think I know what's bugging her."

"I can't. It's locked," the Cat said, stating the obvious with his usual sang-froid.

Shizuku frowned. "Allow me. Shizuku the Wonder Door-Opener!" There was the creaking snap of metal being bent and broken, and the door swung inward a bit.

Baron nodded his thanks and called, "Haru! Haru-chan! We're coming in!"

They stepped inside to find the room in disorder, and Haru standing in an open window, about to jump out.

"Hi, guys!" she yelled drunkenly, a wild light in her eyes. "Watch me fly!" Then she stepped off into space.


	15. Haru's Jealousy

_To confess the truth to ourselves, is it not bittersweet?_  
-Ariadne auf Naxos

HARU'S JEALOUSY

"Haru!" shouted Baron and Shizuku as the inebriated girl dropped out of sight. They rushed to the window, knowing there wasn't anything they could do. Their hearts plunged to their doom along with their friend.

As they reached the window, to their surprise there was a cheery and slurred, "_Hora, hora, hora!_ I can fly too, sensei!" Haru came up slowly, horizontal and on all fours, as if being winched by an invisible rope attached to her back. She was lazily flapping her arms and kicking her legs

"Thank you, Shizuku-chan!" Baron fervently exclaimed as Haru continued to rise, out of their reach.

"I'm not doing anything," the writer said.

"What? Then how–?" The Cat stuck his head out the window and looked up.

Shizuku saw him wave, then pull himself back inside. She raised her eyebrows.

"It seems we have someone to thank. Haru is one lucky girl. Come on, upstairs!"

------oOo------

"I was beating the carpet against the wall when I heard the window downstairs open," said the little tom in the servant's uniform. "I knew the Queen's friend was staying there, so when I heard all the noise I looked over the side. I saw her stick her head out. She didn't sound right, so I was ready when she jumped."

"You have my eternal thanks, Master Cameron," Baron said, shaking his hand. "If it weren't for you I'd be devastated right now. But why are you a servant here, if you have magic yourself?"

The short-muzzled, white-whiskered orange cat shrugged. "I've grown used to being here, Your Lordship," he answered. "Don't let my looks fool you. I'm close to a hundred years old."

"Oh?"

"Yessir. I go with the fort, so to speak. I've seen people come and go."

"And you have no ambition to make something of yourself?"

"But I _have_ made something of myself, sir. I'm a good cleaner-upper, if I may be so bold as to say so. I'm just too content here to start life anew outside." Cameron bowed. "If you won't be needing anything, I'll be going back to my duties now, sir."

"Yes. Once again, thank you. I'll put in a good word for you with the Captain and everyone else."

"Pshaw." If Cameron didn't have any fur, Shizuku thought she would've probably seen him color. "It's not a big deal, Baron von Jikkingen."

"You know my name?"

"Of course. I know the names of all the people staying here."

"That should come in handy when making party lists," Shizuku commented.

"It is, mum." The tom looked up at the still-floating Haru, who was now being incarcerated in the air by the irritated writer, who chose this method of expiating her anger—and guilt. "You be a magic-user too, then?"

Shizuku nodded. "I don't know how I got this, but it comes in handy for moments like these."

"Interesting." For a moment Shizuku thought she saw Cameron's eyes gleam with keen interest. "Very interesting. Well, I'll be moving along now." The servant bowed and left, going down the casement stairs.

Baron waited until the cat was out of earshot, then said, "There's something peculiar about him."

"What, the fact that he's a centenarian and looks like a kid, or that he's a magician?" Shizuku asked sardonically.

"Neither of those. I'll wager that if you scratch his surface you'll find a very interesting history underneath."

"If you say so. Sir Cat, can I let Haru down now? She's getting pretty heavy."

"Oh, sorry. Of course."

Shizuku maneuvered Haru into a carrying position in Baron's arms. She sighed in relief as the Cat clamped his hands around his troublesome love interest.

"Miss Yoshioka," he said, "you've caused enough scandal for one day. When you are sober Shizuku and I will have a little talk with you. You've been behaving very irresponsibly."

"_G-gomennasai, Baron._" Haru apologized. "Please excuse my behavior."

"Sorry isn't good enough this time, Haru," Shizuku said threateningly. "I think there's something you want to tell us."

"Yesh, yesh, I'll tell you anything. I'm very sorry." Haru grabbed Baron's lapel and buried her face in it. "I'm a bad girl. I'm a bad girl."

Baron and Shizuku looked at each other, then descended the stairs with their sobbing burden.

------oOo------

The coffee did nothing to ease Haru's headache, but it did clear her mind enough for Shizuku and the Cat to have a lucid conversation with her.

She held the gray stone mug in her hands, grateful for the warmth of the steaming brown liquid within. It was strong and sweet and a tad buttery, just the way she liked it. She just wished her hands wouldn't tremble so.

Sitting on her bed, she did her best to ignore her pounding skull as she tried to shrink into herself. Standing before her was Shizuku, and seated in her room's solitary full-back chair was Baron. Neither of them looked very friendly just then.

"Oh, please, can't we do this tomorrow?" she pleaded. "Do you have to do this to me at this ungodly hour?"

"Yes," Shizuku said, with no note of sympathy in her voice. "What set you off, Haru?"

"Like I said, I was shocked at hearing Baron speak of Louise like that."

"And that was enough to make you walk out of the room?" asked Baron.

"Alright!" Racked with guilt, Haru couldn't take it any more. They had been pressing her for thirty minutes already, and she was at the end of her endurance. "I don't want to admit it in front of you, sensei. Will you please leave the room and let me have a private word with Baron?"

Shizuku glanced the Cat's way. He gave an almost imperceptible nod, and she departed. As she passed by him, Haru heard her say, "Don't go easy on her."

The door closed, and the anxious girl felt the weight of Baron's gaze settle on her.

"Well? I'm waiting."

Haru gathered her breath. "Baron, I hope you don't become angry with me because of this," she began, without much hope her statement would come true. "W-when I heard you say Louise was to be killed if you couldn't take her alive, I was shocked and tried to think of a way to help you out. Then... oh, Baron... my mind wandered and I thought, 'Well, why should I want Louise to live? If she died, then Baron would be... would be... free and I could stay with him. He'd be all mine, forever and ever.'" Haru swallowed. "Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any of it. I became so afraid of myself I just had to get out of the room, don't you understand? I couldn't believe I was wishing Louise ill just so I could be with you."

The Cat eyed her critically. "Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all," Haru replied, her voice flat. _That's all,_ she thought. _And that's all she wrote for this relationship as well. He'll never trust me again after what I just admitted._

"Thank you, Haru."

"Eh? What?"

"I can forgive you for having those thoughts, because you came clean about them. I don't know if I can forgive you for wishing Louise evil, though. That was very unkind of you. And besides, I thought you said this was only temporary."

"I know what I said," Haru replied miserably. "I just don't know what came over me and made me think like that. I'm so sorry, Baron. I know you'll never trust me again, and I deserve that."

"Maybe, maybe not. After all, those were just thoughts, and who among us doesn't think evilly of others now and then? You never acted on them. Search your heart, Haru. Do you really, really wish Louise ill, when you know I'll be unhappy as well if something bad happens to her?"

Haru ruminated. "Of course not, Baron. I was being stupid and selfish."

The Cat stood up and shed his gray tailcoat, then sat down on the bed beside her. "Then believe in yourself, and the good in you," he spoke, looking intently into her eyes. "We are all a mixture of hero and villain. What we choose to let predominate is entirely up to us." He opened his arms, and Haru gladly fell forward into their embrace.

"Baron, I'm still sorry. Let me just say that I'd rather lose you to your real love, than gain you in such an evil manner."

Baron paused. "My real love," he whispered. "Haru, this is what I never wanted to happen to you. I'm sorry this is all I have to pit against such an eager yearning."

Haru spent a moment nuzzling his shoulder. "It's okay, Baron. Just let me set this mug down, will you? It's starting to burn my fingers." When she had done so, she looked him in the eyes. "Now, as you say it, _Mach Schnell!_" She flung her arms out wide.

The Cat's eyes widened. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. Since I have no other way to prove how sincerely sorry I am, this is all I can give, in exchange for your trust..." Haru's voice trailed away as she looked down at herself.

"Enough! You don't have to do that with me. I believe you. You're not a demimonde who has to offer me sex to keep my affections." Baron hugged her tighter. "Your way of thinking is strange to me, at times."

"It wouldn't be, if you consider it all in the light of my feelings for you."

"Haru, I think you're growing more attached to me than is wise."

"I don't care, Baron. Please, kiss me again, and drive my darkness away."

After they had released each other she asked, "What's a demimonde?" in a voice husky with emotion.

Baron looked at her, a subtle passion showing in his eyes. "I'll let you figure that out for yourself."

------oOo------

The door opened and the Cat emerged from Haru's room, his coat draped over a forearm and his hat in his hands. Shizuku was sitting in the corridor, waiting, a fact that surprised him so much he dug his watch fob out to confirm the time.

"I thought you'd already gone to bed, Shizuku-chan," he said quietly. "It's almost sunrise."

Shizuku shook her head. "It's okay. How is she?"

Baron helped her up and waited as she stretched muscles cramped by the long sitting. "You're a magician in more ways than one. You were exactly right."

"I see." The thought didn't make her happy. "When I first met her I sort of got the impression that she was a shy, sensitive person who was looking for her own place in the world. I think she's found it with you and the cats." They began to walk away. "What are you going to do, Baron? Her feelings for you are much stronger than she realizes. She might unconsciously end up–"

"Enough of that talk," Baron said sharply. "I trust Haru, just as I trust you, Shizuku-chan. Let's not have suspicions and whispers dominate our minds. That's surely the easiest way to wreck our friendships."

"But Baron, about our friendships: you can't deny you're both heading for disaster, the way you two are going on now."

"Not disaster, Shizuku. But we both know this won't last."

"Then why hurt yourselves like this? You know that's what'll happen in the end."

"Because we both wanted to drink from this cup!" Baron's voice rose and echoed off the stone walls. He put a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry. I know you're concerned about us, but please let us be. We all have our own crosses to bear."

Shizuku looked away from her beloved Sir Cat. "Of course. Well, I'll trust you on that matter, and say no more about it, except that I wish both of you what happiness you can find."

The Cat turned to her and a small smile appeared on his lips. "Thank you, Shizuku-chan. You know, considering that Louise tried to kill me, maybe Haru wasn't so eccentric in wanting her dead herself."

Shizuku did not reply.

Baron escorted her all the way to her room and kissed her fingers before leaving for the accommodation he shared with Muta and Toto.

Shizuku watched him round the corner, then entered the darkened space behind her. She heard the soft breathing of Seiji asleep in bed as she closed the door. She walked up to him, and gazed at him in the dim light provided by the sliver of moon hanging low over the countryside.

So peaceful, and so utterly hers, an emerald in a hollow that sparkled only for her eyes. She lifted the quilted bedcovers and climbed in beside him. He stirred and threw an arm around her. She smiled vaguely as she kissed his forearm and settled back against his comforting body. Then, seconds later, she was asleep, with Seiji's breath warm against her ear.

------oOo------

Baron himself entered the room he shared with the giant cat and crow. Muta was still awake when he entered, seated in a rocking chair (which looked as if it could barely hold his weight), a newspaper in his hands. A pot of coffee lay on the small dining table, and a mug sat beside it. All the lights were on.

The newspaper went down. _The Everyday Cat Kingdom Times,_ its banner logo read. "Well, how'd it go, lover boy?"

"Muta, my friend, if you ever hear me complain again about how boring my existence is, hit me on the head, will you?"

The giant cat chortled. "Gladly. So, is the kid alright?"

"Yes, she is. Poor thing got frightened of her own mind because she thought of killing Louise so she could have me all to herself."

"Ouch." Muta grimaced. "What'd you tell her?"

"I straightened her out. She didn't have that strong a wish, as I feared. Just the sort of evil fantasy we usually indulge ourselves in once in a while, but never do anything about."

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"What? Only one question will I allow. I'm tired."

"Are you really going to let Gabriel and the Stormy Cats kill Louise if it becomes necessary?"

"Don't be daft. Of course not. I just went along with that to keep the peace. I know Gabriel suspects me. You can't blame him, since he's supposed to keep Lune safe and uphold Cat Kingdom law. I shall need your help, Renaldo, if she proves too much for me to handle."

"You got it. Then I won't have to see you moping around or retreating into that shell of yours so often. That is, if we can get her back to the way she was. Are you really going to bring Haru along?"

"Yes. I don't think I could stop the Mighty Princess even if I tried." Baron paused. "I must be worse off than I thought. That was two questions already, Muta."

The large feline smiled insouciantly. "I thought you wouldn't notice."

"I'm going to stay insensible for a while," Baron said, standing beside the bed and fixing himself. On went the tailcoat, on went the gray top hat. "I'll be unavailable for the day. No one is to disturb me, please. I need the rest."

"Not even the couple?" Baron shook his head. "Not even Haru?"

"I suspect she'll be feeling too wretched to look for me. She's going to have one massive hangover, considering the amount of alcohol she consumed. Please keep an eye on her."

"Noted. And by the way, Toto's already gone to sleep," said Muta, pointing towards the balcony. "He said he wanted to forget everything for a while."

That caused Baron to stop arranging himself and look out the windows. It was still dark outside, so the gargoyle remained hidden. "Poor chap. It must be hard on him."

"It is. He told me he knew both for years, and now he's got to be the one to go and tell one crow wife that her husband's not going to be able to spend autumn in Ibaraki-ken with his two children."

Baron shook his head once, then finished fixing himself. Then he stood perfectly still, and by the time Muta looked his way again he was already a statue, and his eyes held the _Engel's Zimmer_ in them once more.

The fat cat lifted the paper and began reading the article that had caught his eye. The title read _Baron Humbert von Jikkingen Saves King Lune's Life._ It was a short, factual account of the Black Cat's assassination attempt on the Cat King. There was no mention at all of her being Baron's fiancée.

Muta glanced at the statue. "Pleasant dreams, old friend," he muttered.


	16. Cameron the Magic Cat

**Author's Note:** Cripes. I thought I had gotten rid of that huge AN in the previous chapter. Sorry.

_shadowkeepre,_ if you're referring to the 'bittersweet' quote, it's the opening of Zerbinetta's aria to Ariadne from the Richard Strauss opera _Ariadne auf Naxos._ Zerbinetta was about to upbraid Ariadne for her view on men, and boast about how many lovers she herself had. And Louise, as far as I know, is both the name of Baron's fiancée and Nishi's girlfriend.

_Alea Ishikawa,_ I have to thank you. You've given me a great idea for the ending. I was going to leave this mess open-ended until the Chirstmas Party, but now I can see how I can finish it. It personally has me laughing.

_Ellenlome,_ what was unclear in Baron's talk? If there was anything unclear, that was my fault; Baron almost never speaks in the _Whisper of the Heart _manga. It's also because it's my extrapolation of his character. To me Aoi Hiiragi and Ghibli never fully explored Baron as much as they could have. Nishi Shirou may have brought him to Japan, but the Cat presumably brings with him a viewpoint that should enable one to include stuff normally inaccessible to the characters in your usual manga/anime (You'll probably never find Kiki quoting Shakespeare, for example, or Chihiro knowing about Kenneth Grahame and his _The Reluctant Dragon_, or Rikako from _Umi Ga Kikoeru_ knowing about Philip Glass, unless you're willing to create an unusual set of circumstances for them explaining those away). The same goes for Seiji, since he's been abroad, and Shizuku, who is (or was) a bookworm. That's why I always said I needed a beta, to give me a reality check, and thank you for your offer. You should find a little courier cat knocking on your e-mail door later. Meow.

* * *

CAMERON THE MAGIC CAT

The next morning, after breakfast, Shizuku found herself entertaining Cameron the servant, who insisted that he had to talk to her. Which she allowed him to, in the room, with Seiji at her side.

At first the servant seemed disconcerted at Seiji's presence, but he went ahead and began his spiel.

"You're the first magician to come through here, Lady Shizuku," he said as he stood in the middle of the small living space. He had refused the offer of a chair. "I'd like to ask you a few things, if I may be so bold."

Shizuku nodded curtly. She was getting tired of all the fawning obsequiousness Windamary and all the servants displayed. She felt sorry for them, and decided that if Cameron was going to remain standing, she would too. "Go on, Master Cameron."

"Do you like having your powers?"

"Well, yes, of course."

"Have you met anyone else who has anything like them?"

"No."

"Do you know how you got them?"

"I told you before, I don't."

"Would you like to learn more?"

"Sure! And I suppose you're the one to teach me."

"Yes. Not a lot, just some things I think will work for you."

"And what do you want in return?"

"Nothing much. Just the pleasure of a fellow magician's company. It's been years since I've cast spells with one, and even longer since I passed on what I knew."

"When can we start?"

"Right now, if you wish. I'm free this entire day."

"Okay, let's begin."

Cameron hesitated. "Er," he stuttered, "we need to practice this outside, preferably away from the fort."

"Why?"

"It's pretty powerful."

"Alright, but let me get dressed first."

"I'm coming with you," Seiji said.

"Why?"

"I'm not going to let you go who-knows-where with a cat you met only yesterday."

"Sir Seiji," Cameron said apologetically, "only your wife must hear what I have to say. Your life may be put in jeopardy if you hear it."

"If it's dangerous, then all the more I have to be with her."

"If you insist. Come, then, follow me."

------oOo------

They went to the beach again, using _toriuma_. Not to where Shizuku had taken a swim with Haru, but nearer to the massive fortification, in a wide, more level space with a sandier surface, with clumps of blue-green grass interspersed here and there. They dismounted, and instead of hitching their rides up to some post or tree, the servant spoke a few commands. They removed the bridles and cast them on the sand, and the horseclaws remained where they were, either sitting down on the rocks or digging into the feed bags Cameron had brought for them.

"All it takes is a friendly word," he said as Shizuku and Seiji marveled at the mounts' apparent docility. "Don't ever frighten them, for their kicks can prove fatal. Now, let's begin."

He started out by saying how there were so many different types of magic one could never truly impart everything he or she knew, since a lot of it was peculiar to that particular person. He hoped Shizuku's powers were what he thought they were, and gave her a small, dark-blue rock to hold in her hand.

As she looked at it lying in the flat of her palm it fluoresced, tiny points of bluish light crawling through spidery paths in the stone like ghostly insects.

"Yes, you're what I've been looking for!" Cameron exclaimed involuntarily. Shizuku looked into his greenish-yellow eyes and was surprised to see him on the verge of tears.

"Please, allow me to explain," he said, he tentatively reached out and grasped her hand. Seiji raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "I'm not really a cat. I used to be a human like you. I was a little boy who went out to play with his friends one summer morning, then got lost in a sudden storm and wound up here in the Cat Kingdom. I couldn't get out, and within the space of a day I turned into what you see now. I somehow found myself in the Cat King's employ, and tried to escape so many times, but this body of mine always held me back. There were occasions when I was able to gain access to a portal back to my own country, but I thought of what my family would think when they saw me like this and never worked up the courage to step across. I even tried saving up all my money to buy that expensive drink that turns one back into a human, but when I tried it, it worked only temporarily on me, since I had been in the Cat Kingdom so long. So basically I'm stuck here."

Shizuku put a sympathetic hand on the tom's shoulder. "Go on."

"I belong to a family that used to be very powerful and capable of magical feats," he continued. "We were descended from a race of people who abandoned their palace in the sky to live with men on earth. The most powerful among us are able to use these stones to focus their powers. You appear to be one of them."

Shizuku looked at him in disbelief. "Are you saying I'm a sort of relative to you? Because I can trace my lineage back two hundred years, and there's no mention at all of foreign blood coming into my family. And I've never experienced any magic like this at all in my world. None, until we got here and I saved Baron's life."

Cameron signaled incomprehension. "No, it just means that your power is similar to mine, and therefore I can teach you a few things. I wish to pass my magic on to someone who can learn it, and now I know that someone is you."

"Why me, Cameron? Surely there must be someone else you can teach this to."

"As I said, you're the first magician to pass by the fort, and you're human like I am. Or used to be. The Cat Magician's magic is a little different than ours. It relies more on spells and dried seahorse and that stuff, while ours is a function of mind and emotion. Would you like to learn what I have to teach?"

"Of course!"

------oOo------

An hour later, Seiji sat on a tree stump some distance away from the pair, watching as they practiced magic. Cameron was right, it was a potentially dangerous business. Shizuku was lifting boulders and hurling them through the air to land in the water with tremendous splashes, all with the power of her mind. She raised the scrawny dead trees near the shore up in the air and twirled them like giant toothpicks, then set them back down. She made pebbles twirl in a vertical circle in the air in front of her, then blow up, showering her and Cameron with a rain of dust. The air formed mini-tornadoes at her command. Even the water didn't escape her attentions. She made an upward-slashing gesture with a hand, and it erupted in a towering wall of white that stretched for hundreds of meters, then crashed back with a thunderous _boom_ that hurt his ears.

He sighed. His dear Shizuku, who looked so appealing and full of _joie de vivre_, barefoot on the pebbly sand in her waist-length sleeveless red shirt and lace-ended Capri pants, that stopped just below her knees and showed off her calves just right and hugged the gentle swell of her bottom oh-so-tantalizingly, was now toothed and clawed, a sweet kitten with razor-sharp implements, like Haru was. He didn't know if he wanted to accept the change. For all he knew, the next time he taunted her she might fling him into the sea, or hurl a table or chair at him. He was nothing as special as she was now; he was still just an itinerant musician, violin-maker and painter who happened to love her.

For the last part Cameron was adamant in having him stay away. He watched them move further towards the water, then sit down and talk for a few minutes. Partway through the affair Shizuku seemed to grow agitated and shook her head. She continued to listen, though, and when Cameron got up from the sand around fifteen minutes later, she followed him and they walked back to Seiji.

_That's it?_ he thought. _That's the 'things I mustn't hear' lesson?_

"Are you through? That was quick."

"Yes, Sir Seiji. You can have your wife back. I thank you both for putting up with me."

"It was no problem. We were happy to oblige." Seiji bowed to the cat. He expected Shizuku to share his sentiment, so when he looked at her for confirmation, the way her face remained troubled surprised him.

"Shizuku?"

"Hmm? Oh, thank you very much, Cameron." Shizuku bowed deeply.

"Could we do anything for you?" Seiji solicited.

The servant shook his head. "Well, someday I'd like to go back to my family, or at least see them once more, but you couldn't do that for me. I shall return to the fort now."

Seiji was about to stand up and join him, when Shizuku spoke.

"We'll, um, stay here for a while. I'm tired and I'd like to rest before heading back."

Cameron bowed. "As you wish, milady." He put fingers to his lips and blew a piercing whistle. The three grazing horseclaws in the distance shot their heads up and ran to him.

"Whoa!" he commanded. The three creatures slowed to a stop in front of him and eyed him expectantly.

"Kii," he said, "let's go home. Mikai, you get the bridles when these people are ready to go, okay?" The horseclaw gave a trilling caw. "Mai, behave yourself, or I won't let you out on an excursion like this any more." The last avian gave him such a sad look Shizuku wanted to gape in amazement. "Oh, dear, just be a good girl, okay? I'll see you back at the stables."

With an agile leap Cameron mounted the horseclaw named Kii and galloped off under the sun, which was already high in the sky. As he rode away, he leaned over the side and expertly snatched up one of the bridles and reins from where they'd previously left them.

"What's bothering you?" Seiji asked pensively, turning to Shizuku, who had occupied the stump he had vacated.

"_Anata,_ he taught me a few things. I'm not sure I want to use them." When her husband gave her a silent request to explain further, she said, "I like my own powers better. They may be weak, they may make me disappear and probably put my life in danger, but they're not destructive like his are."

"That last lesson?" Seiji guessed.

Nodding, Shizuku sighed. "He taught me what he called were 'power words.' He told me never to use them unless in great need, and never to reveal them to anyone else, even you. Seiji, I don't want to use them at all! They're terrible! I can't even forget them!"

"How are they terrible?" asked Seiji, but she never answered him. Instead she put her head in her hands and looked out into the blue horizon. Her husband waited patiently until she announced she was ready to go back, then helped her stand.

"I wish I knew how to ride sidesaddle," she said. "I didn't want to tell you this, but I'm still sore." She smiled guiltily at him.

"You can ride on my lap if you want to," Seiji offered, kissing her cheek. "I won't let you fall."

"Could I? Thanks so much. Mikai, can you understand me? Please fetch the bridles."

As they began the trip back a thought happened to cross Seiji's mind. "Shizuku-chan, didn't Cameron say that your power is based on your mind and your emotion?"

"Uh-huh."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. It varies depending on my mood. The more clear my head is, the more focused the effect will be and the easier it is to cast. If I'm rattled or not thinking straight, there's no telling what'll happen to it. I find it usually works better if I think happy thoughts, though. _Iya da,_ Mai, naughty bird! Remember what Cameron said! You have to be a good girl or he'll never bring you out again!"

Seiji held the reins firmly in his right hand until the fractious beast had stopped trying to go her own way. "Oh? And what do you think about to make you happy?"

Shizuku, arms around his neck, paused. That caused Seiji to look at her, in time to catch the tiniest curl of mouth upwards. They had known each other a long time. In that brief instant, with that miniscule movement, and the hidden twinkle in Shizuku's dark eyes, he knew. He knew what—whom—she thought about at those moments.

The recalcitrant _toriuma_ had to bear the weight of two humans, one sitting on the other's lap, with a thoroughly kissed look on her face, all the way back to the fort. Mikai simply followed them home. Shizuku thought he was laughing, in a way, clucking at his mate's discomfiture and the silly, mushy humans riding her.

------oOo------

Some minutes before the couple's return, there was a spring in Cameron's step as he reported to Windamary and announced he was giving up the rest of his day off. The Russian Blue looked at him in amazement, then instantly felt his forehead for a temperature. Though he was older than she was, he let her treat him like a son.

"Mom," he complained, using the nickname all the household staff called her by, "I'm fine. I just had so good a time today, I don't want too much of it."

"Well, okay. If you really want to get back to work, go and help in the kitchen. And I don't mean by eating up all the food and calling it 'taste testing'!"

Cameron went to do as she suggested. He was happier than he had ever been in a long time. Passing by a window on his way down to the main kitchen and larder in the basement, he looked out at the blue sky with its drifting white clouds and fervently hoped Grand-Dame Lucita—wherever she was now, bless her soul—and Grand-Patriarch Pazu would approve of his actions. He was old; death might take him at its whim, despite his eternal youth, but at least now a part of their unique legacy to the clan would live on, even if he could never return to it any more.

------oOo------

"Ey, look, isn't that Miss Haru across the street?"

"Yeah! Hey, Miss Haru!

"Hey, Sergeant Jarashi! Private Fisher! How are you?"

"All great and dandy. And you're looking mighty fine yourself, Miss Haru!" the younger soldier commented. "And by the way," he continued in a lower voice as they reached her, "it's Corporal Fisher now, ma'am."

"Really?" Haru looked at the orange-furred sergeant and innocently asked, "Is that a higher or lower rank?"

Jarashi roared with laughter. "It's a higher one," he said, casting an aspersive glance at his comrade.

Fisher hung his head and seemed to turn a darker shade of bluish-gray as Haru congratulated him. "How'd you get promoted?"

"By default," he admitted sheepishly. "Our platoon corporal got a broken leg two days ago and is out of action. We just visited him in the hospital."

"Ah, that's too bad."

"What're you doing out here, Miss Haru?"

"I was, uh, shopping." Indeed she was: until a few minutes earlier she was with Seiji and Shizuku (who had, by way of apologizing for her earlier suspiciousness, removed Haru's hangover with her powers), then had separated from them and was looking for a haberdashery or a clothes shop where she could purchase or have tailored a shirt to replace the one of Baron's she ruined.

"I'm surprised the King doesn't keep a tighter rein on you folks," Jarashi remarked.

"Why?"

"Well, look, everyone knows who you are by now, and the easiest way to get him to stop all this is by kidnapping one of you. Queen Yuki's too inaccessible with all that security around her."

"They won't do that," Haru reassured him. She told him of Captain Loriel.

"Sure, I know all about her, but what's to stop them from breaking their word? Phaecis might be an honorable guy, but I'm sure not all of them are."

"You're so considerate that way, Sergeant," Haru chided him, causing his whiskers to stick straight out. "Thanks, but I can take care of myself."

"Of course. You have a good day, Miss Haru." The two cats bid her farewell and walked back across the street. As a parting shot Fisher shouted, "Marry me, Miss Haru! I'm a much more handsome cat than Baron von Jikkingen is!"

Haru froze and red crept up from her neck all the way to her forehead and even down her bare forearms. Was knowledge of their relationship _that _widespread now? She'd have to persuade Baron to meet in more private settings, or see him less often. The first was a much more palatable prospect than the second.

"Sorry!" Sergeant Jarashi shouted. She saw his foot treading firmly on the twitching Fisher's tail. "My friend here doesn't know what he's saying! Don't mind him!" He let go of the newly-minted corporal and pushed him roughly into the gentleman's club behind them.

------oOo------

Jarashi wasn't that far off in his guess; as Haru composed herself and went on her way, a figure watching her from one of the nearby shops stood up and went to the lavatory to get on his walkie-talkie and report on her doings.


	17. Haru and Shizuku's Attempted Kidnapping

**Author's Note:** Sexy stuff again, and a bit of suggestive humor, which is entirely the author's fault. But why should any of you be surprised, since it's been present in the fic from the beginning?

_Ellenlome,_ hope you weren't wondering why this took so long. Like I said, I rewrite a lot. And it's supposed to be 'thoroughly kissed'. Haven't you ever been? ;)

_Thundercat,_ you ought to go write that idea of yours down. I'll hold the buckets for those who'll be sure to weep. Also, it seems both our birthdays have been sullied by people of evil intent. Advance greetings on growing older.

_Naphtali Phoenix,_ thank you for the kind words.

The chapter title was supposed to be "Haru to Shizuku no Kamikakushi," a reference to Spirited Away, but it didn't exactly fit the contents, so I changed it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure my Japanese is right. If it isn't, please tell me so I can correct it.

* * *

_Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again._  
-Robert Heinlein, _Time Enough for Love_

HARU TO SHIZUKU NO TAMERARETA YUUKAI  
(HARU AND SHIZUKU'S ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING)

Early the next day, Lune was in conference with his various commanders, who brought him discouraging news. One of the two troopships to be used in the assault, the _Conquistador,_ developed electrical system trouble the previous evening and was out of commission until repairs could be completed. They had lost all communication with the garrison on the Lonely Isles, the deliveries of food and ammunition for the strike force were also not finished, and to cap it all off, the _Longshallows,_ with Captain Loriel at the helm, sheared her turbine shaft while going out on patrol and had to be towed back to harbor.

Lune listened to the reports with a stoic face, then said, "Alright. We have no choice but to wait until both ships are repaired." Everyone at the table knew he had pared the fighting force down to what some considered to be below minimum for taking on the Phaecis Gang on their own turf, so there was no question of going without the entire flotilla. "But rush it, will you? I'm sure Phaecis and the Black Cat are aware of our presence here now. And send for Mister Toto. I'm afraid we're going to need his services again."

------oOo------

It was lunchtime, and three humans were finishing up eating in a certain restaurant in New Lorum, town proper.

"Now, Haru, slow down! You're going to get a tummy ache!"

The dark-haired girl looked up from her food. "Sorry," she said, "This just tastes so good! I'm glad we found this place. Thanks for inviting me along, Shizuku-sensei."

"No problem." The writer, having remembered Baron's words to her the previous morning, made the extra effort to be conciliatory towards Haru. She still considered her an interloper in Baron's relationship with Louise and a cheat towards her own boyfriend, but as she promised, she wasn't going to say anything about it any more and withhold her judgment. "I like having you around."

As Haru, flustered at Shizuku's straightforwardness, turned her attention back to her food, Seiji said, "Yeah, so do I. We humans do have to stick together in a place like this." He pointed to the piscine remains on his plate. "And now we know at least one restaurant in this town that serves human-eatable meals."

Shizuku chuckled. She had ordered a salmon-and-onion tart and a mushroom risotto. It wasn't every day they could indulge and be so blatantly, embarrassingly sybaritic like this. "I like fish, but not every single meal. And this ice cream is to die for!"

Seiji looked down at her waist. "Hmm. Is it me, or have you added inches here?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. Then a scoop of her icy confection detached itself from the serving boat in the middle of the table and floated itself in front of her husband.

"Want some?"

"You mean as food or on my face?" asked he, eyeing the rounded yellow lump warily. Behind him a waiter cat passing by with a tray in its paws, curiosity already aroused by the fact that they were humans, looked wide-eyed at the floating ice cream and nearly killed himself by putting his foot down in a bucket filled with soapy water and sliding down the aisle into the rest room at the further end of the restaurant.

The trio looked up at the startling crash, and then resumed talking as another waiter ran to the john to see what had happened. "Food, silly. I'm being generous with you today." The ice cream moved closer to his mouth. "Come on, take a bite. You'll love it."

Seiji took a nibble and his eyes lit up. "Hey, banana!" He finished off the rest of the scoop with alacrity and reached for a long-handled spoon. "Gimmie! You two can't finish this off by yourselves!"

Haru put her spoon down on her saucer. Her eyes were smiling as she asked, "Whatever happened to 'I've got to keep myself in shape,' sensei?"

"Hmm? Oh, that went out the door the moment I got a taste of—mmm..." Shizuku removed the spoon from Seiji's mouth and wiped the bit of cream from his lips.

Chuckling, Haru laced her fingers together and, resting her chin on them, said, "You two are so sweet together, I envy you." She watched the waiter assisting a sodden fellow worker out of the rest room.

"Why? Aren't you like this with your boyfriend?" asked Shizuku.

"Not really. Kei-chan's, well, not into public displays of affection."

"Yeah. I know we're strange that way," Seiji commented. "At least we don't go kissing on the train."

"Hey, there was that time at Seitama Station..." Shizuku reminded him.

"That was because I was leaving again, and wanted to shock my parents!" he returned. Just before leaving his then-fiancée alone with his parents to return to Italy, Seiji decided to reaffirm his ownership of her by kissing her full on the mouth prior to boarding the train. Judging by the speechless looks on his mom and dad's faces, it was worth the public censure.

"I know, I know," Shizuku said soothingly. "I never said I didn't like it, although your father looked funny at me at the time."

"I know what that looks like." Seiji owled her, and she let out a guffaw.

"Right! Just right!"

"He does that when he doesn't know what to say," Seiji explained.

Haru looked at the restaurant's wall clock. "Look at the time! We've got to go to the shops and get our things!" Yesterday, while she was with the couple and before searching for a shirt for Baron, she had dropped her smallsword and medallion off at a custom fitter's, telling them that she wanted the small golden piece secured to the middle of the blade's unusual ricasso. She had decided that the smallsword would be its permanent home, unlike on her epée, where it was fastened by two small screws on the bellguard. Now all she had to do when they returned to the real world was find some way of walking the streets with it until she could hide it in her house. Shizuku, in her turn, had consigned the strange blue stone Cameron gave her to the jeweler next door, to be placed in the cheapest pendant they had—she told Haru she felt she was already abusing Lune's generosity.

"Yeah. Come on, let's finish all of this as fast as we can," she urged. There was a greedy look on her face as she attacked the helpless comestibles once more.

------oOo------

After waiting some minutes, the trio walked to the metalworker's shop. Seiji kept on gawking at the store displays they passed, and soon found himself walking behind his wife and Haru. Their somewhat epicurean repast had caused his body to slow down, but not his mind, which kept on noticing things and filing them away.

His gaze strayed to the slender waist peeking occasionally from under Shizuku's sleeveless green blouse. He teased her a lot about being unsexy, but in truth found her quite alluring ever since their senior high school days. She had blossomed then, and jokingly he had claimed responsibility for it. She wasn't as pretty at first glance as Haru, wasn't as model-tall and slender as her, nor was she as curvy (though Haru's body was nowhere near as eye-poppingly curvaceous as, say, Pamela Anderson's, or any of those pin-up girls running around in bikinis on late-night TV back home); but she more than made up for her physical shortcomings with the force and whimsy of her personality, boldly direct one moment and delightfully shy the next. It played a major part in her appeal to him. Ever since that first night in the Ginza hotel suite she had metamorphosed into something of a chameleon in the bedroom, who could act in so many ways Seiji sometimes wondered who he was holding in his arms. She could be heartbreakingly modest and quiet as he gently caressed her to a whimpering ecstasy, or brazenly, erotically experimental, a wanton harlot who teased and tortured him until his body couldn't take it any more and gave up the issue. On the rare occasion she could even combine humor with their lovemaking, making him laugh even as she helped him strive towards his release.

"Seiji! What do you think you're looking at?"

The outraged question pulled him out of his reverie, and he found that his gaze had somehow wandered down to his wife's cloth-encased derrière. He imagined the treasures of that portion of her anatomy, then swallowed and turned his attention to the less-welcome, more-threatening sight of her indignant face.

She grabbed him by the shirtfront and pushed him out in front of them. He heard Haru giggling and turned back to them, an apologetic expression on his countenance.

"I'm sorry, Shizuku," he said contritely. "I didn't mean to leer at you like that."

There was a forgiving twinkle in Shizuku's dark eyes, but out of her mouth came, "Men! They're sexual beasts, aren't they, Haru-chan?"

Haru watched the silent exchanges passing between the couple's eyes and was reminded of her and Machida's own behavior. "Y-yes, sensei, they're definitely sexual beasts."

"Well, excuse me for being born a guy and having male hormones."

"Lighten up. I was just kidding."

"Hmph. You're so good at it, I'm never sure if you are."

Shizuku smiled wickedly and suddenly launched into Italian.

_Sol noi povere femmine  
che tanto amiam questi uomini,  
trattate siam dai perfidi  
ognor con crudeltà!_

Haru looked at her. "What does that mean?"

"When we were traveling in Italy," answered the older woman, "we had a chance to see an adaptation of 'The Marriage of Figaro' in Milan, thanks to a friend of Seiji's. He also kindly gave me a libretto of it. It means

_Only we poor women  
That love so much these men,  
Must always deal with cruelty from the  
treacherous ones!_

The speaker—Marcellina, if I remember her name correctly—was talking about how men are always unfaithful to their women."

"That's just so wrong," barked Seiji. "Why're you always pinning the blame on us? If women weren't so fickle and manipulative, men would have no need to be unfaithful! Anyway," he continued, turning to Haru, "Marcelina was a spinster. It's my theory that she was just ticked off since she hadn't gotten any in a while."

Haru laughed at Seiji's suggestion. "I guess I understand that. Does that mean you and Shizuku-sensei–"

"Haru-chan!" Shizuku's cheeks turned a faint pink. "Of course not. I'm always like this!"

"Yeah, unfortunately," agreed her husband. "And I have to put up with it."

"Seiji?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Seiji was taken aback for a moment. "Shizuku, when are you going to stop saying things like that? Love you too," he mumbled shamefacedly.

Haru laughed.

The conversation died down and stayed sane all the way to the shop. Shizuku, after observing her own husband walking out in front of them for some minutes, came to a shocking realization. _Oh, good grief, now he's got me doing it too,_ she mused, watching his beautifully firm tush move under his jeans and blushing inwardly at the memories the sight produced, of hard grunts and soft sighs, of rough words and gentle hands, and the sweet, mingled smell of masculinity and femininity. A part of her wanted her to scold herself for doing so, since she had done it to him beforehand. The other part replied with a succinct "To hell with you," and Shizuku continued to look at her husband with a secret satisfaction.

------oOo------

"Wow, it's beautiful!" the younger Tsukishima daughter exclaimed.

Smiling, Haru looked at the white cat standing behind the counter. Behind him, a bright silver nameplate reading _Atelier Topcraft_ by _Shunji Kyuusaki_ gleamed from the up on the wall, surrounded by various examples of the artisan's craft. "It is," she concurred, watching the polished glint of the golden metal amid gray and silver. "Thank you, Kyuusaki-bucho!" She bowed, with hands properly at the sides of her old blue skirt.

"No problem," the cat replied. "Hardly anyone brings in such beautiful works of art anymore. It was a pleasure to work on it."

"I know, I'm sorry about using King Lune's pass," Haru said sheepishly as she handed the red-orange rectangle of plastic over to the shop manager. "I'll find some way to pay him back. I promise this'll be the last time." Kyuusaki-bucho disappeared into his private office temporarily, then reemerged carrying a receipt, which he gave to her along with the card. Haru bowed and, with profuse thanks, left with the couple.

As they walked to the jewelry shop next door, they spied a Caucasian man emerging from it. He had with him a woman so fair it hurt everyone's eyes to look at her under the bright noonday sun. She had whitish skin and long, snowy tresses that framed a pale face. She was all light and shadow and no color, an ethereal angel that had somehow been given human form and substance to show the world what pure, unspoiled loveliness was like.

As they waited for the pair to move away from the shop's door, they heard her speak. "Lir," she said in a melodious voice, "I'm very grateful for your help. Now we must return to my forest, or I will not be able to remember who I am for much longer."

"Yes, Amalthea," spoke the man, square-jawed, tall and lanky. He had blond hair and was dressed in leather clothing, like a person out of a medieval age.

The woman took his hand. A spot on her forehead glowed, and they disappeared into thin air, leaving the three friends gawking at the place where they had stood.

"You know," Seiji finally broke the silence, "I think Shizuku's right sometimes, that we're stuck in a fairy tale of some sort. Maybe all of this is a product of her demented mind."

Shizuku tilted the straw boater she wore on top of her head to a jauntier angle. "If I'm demented, you're worse off than I am, because you went and married me."

"Haha. No, that was the best deal I ever made. If you want, I can prove it to you."

Haru grinned as Shizuku blushed. There was something she found so _kawaii_ about the spitfire losing her composure. They went inside the shop and Shizuku asked for the stone.

The shop owner presented it to them. It had been set in a semicircle of dull gray metal, with three little claws holding the round blue stone in place. The chain was made up of tiny oval links, with a screw fastener to close it.

Seiji held it open as Shizuku pushed the hair on the back of her head up so he could place the pendant around her neck. Then she tucked the stone under her blouse, paid for it and took their leave.

As they were stepping out onto the sidewalk, Seiji noticed an unusual pair of cats standing at the end of the street furthest from them, in the middle of the road itself. They were large, and unlike most of the inhabitants of New Lorum or of the Cat Castle itself, held themselves in such a fashion and wore such barbaric getups that no one who looked at them could possibly fail to notice the hostile and predatory air they exuded. Both had black markings; one was much larger, with fur of a light gray color, while the other, smaller one had tan hairs.

He pointed them out to the girls. Haru fairly hissed, while Shizuku frowned.

"I don't like the looks of those two," said the latter.

"Look at them, standing in the middle of the street like they own the place," Haru growled.

Just then the pair of cats spotted them. The gray one bared his sharp teeth in a vicious-looking smile that was visible from where the trio of humans stood, then let out a roar. The smaller one waved a paw, as if beckoning to someone.

From around the corner came a flood of cats, most of them of a large size and all wearing clothes similar to what the pair standing in the middle of the street wore. They looked the trio's way. Then they charged.

"What? What? What?" was all Shizuku could say, as the felines came bounding towards them. "What's happening?"

Haru looked around. There was no one else on the street any more. The various cats and few dogs and birds that had been out walking were now diving into the nearest shops, and the owners were locking the doors.

"Hey, you three!" they heard someone call. It was the jeweler, standing in his own doorway. "Get in!"

"What's going—" Shizuku started to say, then was cut off as Haru roughly pulled her and Seiji into the offered sanctuary.

The shopkeeper quickly shut his doors, threw the locks, and began chaining them up. Haru assisted him.

"What's going on?" Shizuku blurted as she straightened herself out.

"They're after you!" said the jeweler, a cat with a goatee, a permanent squint and whitening red fur, wearing a gray, rough-textured apron of sharkskin. "This way!" He led them through a small door into the back of his shop. It was no use staying out in front, since the entire front of his enterprise was made of glass, including the doors.

"Who's 'they'?" asked Seiji as they all piled into the cramped back room, which was dimly lit, had various machines lining it, and smelled of age and something burned.

"Those of the Phaecis Gang," the shopkeeper answered him as he shut the door behind them. "Rumors have been flying about these past couple of days that they were creeping about the neighborhoods and asking questions."

Haru remembered what Sergeant Jarashi had told her, and passed it on to her companions.

"They're out to get us?" said Seiji in disbelief. "No way. I'm not going to let them harm either of you. Mr. Shopkeeper, is there a back way out of here?"

"Yes. Come on, follow me!"

They all heard a colossal crash coming from the front. They could hear the racket of glass and metal breaking and tinkling and clanking, along with unfriendly shouts.

The jeweler looked back, past the humans he was trying to help, and wrung his paws. His fur puffed out from his body. "Oh, my poor store!"

"There's nothing we can do about that now! Come on!" Haru urged, pushing aside the frightened cat and plunging ahead into the darkness.

There was a door at the other end of the room. Haru opened it. Beyond was a silent, empty alley, dingy but otherwise well-maintained, with boxes stacked neatly against the two-story walls and a pair of potted plants gracing the T-junction which led off into another alley.

"Oh-kay," Haru said. "It looks like we can give them the slip here."

They all rushed as quietly as they could through the passageway. As they neared the junction, however, Haru held up a hand. Her blood was surging in her ears, and the adrenaline rush made her feel as if time was slowed down, and she could sense everything around her, from the crinkle-scritch of the dirt as they stepped on it, to the various smells permeating the place, to the infinitesimal scrabble of padded feet in the alley beyond.

Seiji opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but Haru stopped him with a warning glance and beckoned to Shizuku. The older woman tiptoed up to her, and Haru whispered something in her ear. Seiji watched them nod to each other and creep into the middle of the way. He wondered what the heck they were doing, and glanced back at the way they had come. The door stood open, the blackness inside silent and menacing.

He saw them arrange themselves to stand side-by-side. Then, for one sick, twisted moment he thought they had gone crazy.

"Heeere, kitty, kitty, kitty!" they bellowed.

A group of cats with bristling back fur—and a smattering of dogs—surged out of the sides of the junction and ran snarling toward them, murder in their eyes and sharp objects in their hands.

Haru whipped out her sword. "Now, sensei!"

Shizuku shouted something Seiji couldn't understand, and the onrushing felines flew backwards, as if pushed by a giant hand. They collectively slammed against the wall at the end of the alley, and some groaned and mewed and whined and never got back up. But the rest did, and resumed their headlong run. There were also shouts coming from beyond the T-junction, which boded ill for the humans.

"They're calling their buddies!" Haru shouted. Leaving Shizuku to deal with their attackers, she turned around and headed back towards the door.

She stopped in her tracks as their previous group of pursuers emerged from the darkness, yelling and waving their weapons. Seiji watched their predicament develop and joined the jeweler in cringing against the side of the alleyway.

Haru instantly leapt and tagged the cat in the lead on the chin with a flying kick. The violin-maker couldn't believe how long her jump was, or the way her kick sent the cat flying backward into his comrades, unconscious. As she landed, however, her skirt flared, showing him her long, shapely legs, the delicate fullness of her buttocks, and revealing that she was wearing a pair of high-cut, light pink panties. His eyes bulged from their sockets, and he was sure his hair was standing on end as he quickly turned to face the other way. The scene there wasn't any more encouraging: Shizuku was busy pushing the cats back with her powers, and a steady stream of reinforcements continued to come in from the alley junction. Seiji found himself immensely glad that she hadn't seen him ogling Haru's charms, or with everyone as agitated as they were now, she would have surely lashed out at him. If without magic she was already dangerous that way, how much more so now, when she had the ability to break him in half, like a matchstick...

_Hey, I'm the guy here, I'm supposed to protect them,_ he thought. His pride deeply stung, he searched for a weapon and picked up a long piece of tubing from the ground. It was heavy, and its heft reassured him as he tested it in his hands and looked to see whom he could help.

Shizuku seemed to be having more trouble fending off her foes, so he stepped up to her side and began wailing away at the oncoming cats. He caught two with his improvised club just before one of the onrushers—a dog, a wolf-like thing with burning eyes and bared teeth—jumped at Shizuku, clearly intending to bring her down to the ground.

Seiji had just enough time to plant one end of the pipe on the ground and aim the other in the general direction of the dog's head as it came down. Its throat landed with a stomach-turning crunch on the metal tube, and the dog crumpled to the ground, making horrible wheezing noises and twitching.

"Sarpov!" cried one of the pirate cats, seeing his comrade go down. His ire raised, he and his fellows began imitating what the dog had done and leaping at Shizuku, who had trouble aiming at them because of their number and speed.

Seiji saw the cats flying through the air and knew that Shizuku wasn't going to be able to deal with all of them. He lifted the pipe and held it horizontally in front and above him. Several of the cats crashed into it and were stunned or had their breath knocked out of them, but their collective bulk smashed into him and Shizuku. They fell.

Behind them Haru wasn't having much better luck at staving off her opponents. She had already dispatched two cats with whirling, slashing cuts to their chests, but more poured out of the jewelry shop's back room and rushed at her with knives, clubs and saps.

The one that was giving her the most trouble was one she recognized from pictures in encyclopedias. It was a margay, a small type of wildcat, who wore a trenchcoat and wielded a main gauche and a rapier. The confined space of the alleyway meant that only two or three felines could simultaneously attack her, but it also meant that she had limited space to dance around in to avoid the margay's cuts and thrusts.

The fishing cat got lucky and wounded her, nicking her right forearm with the main gauche. She grimaced and almost dropped her smallsword. In her need she trapped the rapier with the quillons of her blade, tore it from her assailant's grasp, then threw both away. She clamped her hands down on the paw wielding the main gauche. The cat looked at her as they struggled, and on impulse Haru headbutted him.

The margay staggered back, as did she, her head filled with pain and blinking lights. In the precious seconds in which she fought to regain her vision and composure, she waited for the end, for the cat or his fellows to stab her or cut her open, or bash her skull in. She waited for the searing pain of a blade or the sudden darkness of a club.

As her vision cleared, she realized they were running.

Haru blinked and made sure. Yes, there they went, rushing back into the shop, abandoning her as swiftly as they had assailed her. She froze in incomprehension, then looked behind her.

There was a pile of cats and dogs in the middle of the alleyway, covering something. Those cats on top of the heap had tails that were twitching, as if they had caught their mouse and were about to play with it. The canids had evil grins on their faces. Shizuku and Seiji were nowhere in sight.

Her heart pounding again in renewed fear, Haru swiftly retrieved her sword and charged them, raising her poniard high above her and yelling bloody murder. Before she could reach the mound, however, she heard a muffled shriek emanating from within the pile.

There was a rumble that began shaking the alley, and the pirates exploded into space in a flurry of flying fur and flecks of dust and pieces of clothing. They sailed into the walls, or crashed into crates, or flew far off into the blue sky above. Within seconds nothing of the pile remained, except for a harassed-looking Shizuku lying on the ground, with her hair mussed and her hat crushed on the dirt near her head. Seiji was sprawled on top of her.

"_Iyaaa!_" she shouted up after the pirates, covering herself with her hands. "You brutes! How dare you touch me there!" She looked down at Seiji. "Oh, was that you?" Her blush deepened as she pushed him off her. "Don't do that!" she scolded, instantly back in form.

Haru stood over them and watched the dazed members of the Phaecis Gang pick themselves up, groaning. They quickly retrieved their unconscious comrades and left the alleyway. As Haru reached down to help her elder friends up, she heard a commotion coming from beyond the junction, whistles being blown and shouts being raised. It seemed that the pirates were now encountering representatives of the law. She hoped they would get their asses beaten silly.

"Seiji-chan!" The cry made her look back down. Shizuku had rolled her husband off her and was shaking him. "Seiji-chan, answer me! Are you okay?"

To Haru the lolling head and pasty white face of Seiji did not promise well. Shizuku spent an entire minute shaking and pinching him before he coughed and his eyes fluttered open. His doubtful gaze wandered first to her, then Haru.

They could see him trying to focus his thoughts. The blank expression disappeared from his face, and he spoke.

"Haru-chan, you've got very nice legs."

The college student paled. Thinking the worst of him, she hurriedly shut her legs tight and flattened the blue cloth of her skirt against them. Shizuku's hands closed around Seiji's neck.

------oOo------

"I'm really sorry, Haru-chan, but it just came out of my mouth," the artisan apologized as the nurse cat continued wrapping his shoulder in bandages. "I honestly wasn't peeking up your skirt at that time. If _mahou shoujo-chan_ here hadn't shaken and prodded me so much, I would've been more lucid and not embarrassed both of us."

"Um, that's alright, Seiji-sensei. I forgive you." She shifted on the stool. Her right arm was bandaged and hung from a temporary sling. "That was really brave of you, shielding Shizuku-sensei so she could breathe." And in the process losing consciousness because he couldn't get enough oxygen for himself.

"Yeah, well, any guy would do something like that," he said deprecatingly.

Shizuku, standing at the foot of his bed, sniffed. "'Any guy' can also be a lecher, as you so convincingly demonstrated."

"Hey, I already said I was sorry. What do you want me to do? I'll say it again: I'm sorry I was born a man and have male hormones. I'm sorry I saw Haru's undies during the fight. But if I wasn't sincerely sorry about it I wouldn't have told you both! And I did look away, you know!"

"I don't care," Shizuku countered. "I caught you looking at another woman again."

Seiji sighed. "Cut me a little slack, will you? After all, I did try my best to protect you."

Shizuku's expression turned from irritated to remorseful in a second. She couldn't go and hug him, because the nurse was still working on his wounds (which Seiji had declared to be too piddling for her to waste her magic on them, hence the ministrations of the nurse cat), so she settled for squeezing his left foot.

"Forgive me! You know I can be a jealous shrew at times. Especially when the woman concerned is as pretty as Haru is. Yes, I'm grateful you helped me, but you also made me worry!"

Seiji smiled. "Love you too, Shizuku."

The overwrought wife looked as if she were about to break down in tears. Quietening down, she returned to the visitor's couch on the far side of the room.

------oOo------

Several minutes later the Cat came in, and Haru waved to him as he searched the emergency room for her. His eyes lit up and he went to stand by her, putting a hand on her hair when he reached her.

"Where were you, Baron?" Haru asked as she endured the stitching of her arm. She was adamant in having it treated in the normal way, without _sensei_ Shizuku's intervention. "I'd like a scar as a trophy, if you know what I mean," she had said. Shizuku didn't understand her, but consented anyway.

Haru was still beside Seiji's bed, and her bloody injury was stretched out on a sterile cloth on a table taken from his bedside

"I'm sorry, word came to me only now," the Cat apologized. "I had left strict instructions with Muta that I was not to be disturbed. I was resting."

"You're lucky the police came quickly, so the pirates had to flee," Muta said, towering behind Baron. "Why couldn't you just have fled with Shizuku?"

"Because it never occurred to me at the time," the named person retorted from the visitor's couch. "And I didn't want to leave the jeweler, after the way he helped us. How is he, by the way?"

"He's perfectly alright. He's just been released," Baron informed her. "Seiji-kun, how are you?"

"My scratches itch, but I'll be fine."

"Time for me to dig into my carpetbag, I think," Baron commented. "When you get out of here I'll go see you in your rooms. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to meet with the constabulary chief."

------oOo------

Several hours later, as the sun was beginning to go down in a fiery blaze over the sea, Haru heard a knock on her door.

"Enter," she called.

The door opened noiselessly to admit Baron. He stepped inside and closed it after him.

"How are you?"

Haru smiled up at him from the comforting plushness of the full-back chair. "Fine. I was just watching the sun set." The topical anesthetic they had given her was still in effect, blocking out much of the pain.

Baron walked up to her and sat on the armrest. His hand dared to reach out and toy with Haru's hair.

"I've talked to the police chief and several witnesses," he told her. "The gang... they all got away again."

"What? That's impossible!"

"No, unfortunately, it wasn't. They had cut several grates open in the main sewer lines beneath New Lorum, and were watching you humans for several days already. Haru, I'm so sorry I left you in danger."

"It's not your fault, Baron. Who could've thought they'd break their word and wreak havoc here?" She told him about Sergeant Jarashi and his lucky guess. "I'm more worried about the poor jeweler. His place was completely trashed."

"Well, since he helped you Lune's given him a reward. Not much, just enough to repair his shop and replace the things that were broken. Haru, how do you feel, now that you've been blooded?"

She thought a bit. "Bad."

"Oh?"

"I was scared out of my wits, but I forced myself to act. I was thinking more of Seiji and Shizuku-sensei and the jeweler than myself. Odd, that. There were several times during the fight when I really wanted to kill my opponent. But I just couldn't, so I settled for cutting them up so they wouldn't be a threat any more." She frowned. "I don't think I'll ever get used to hurting someone, though."

"That's alright. The moment you get too used to it is the moment you have to take a good, long look at yourself in the mirror, and throw your weapon in the trash."

"I guess." Haru took his hand from her head and kissed it. "Baron, I found out what a demimonde is."

"Oh?"

"Yes." She looked up at him, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "I'm glad you don't think of me as a kept woman."

"Never in a thousand years would I do that," he declared. "Even though the illicit nature of our relationship–"

"Do you have to put it that way?" Haru quickly cut in, a frown replacing her smile.

"I'm sorry, but I have to speak baldly of the truth when it comes to us," said Baron apologetically. "As I was saying, even if the nature of our relationship can make someone ill-informed think that that's what's happening between you and I."

"What could I do... to make this legitimate, Baron?"

"Break off with Machida, and I should end my relationship with Louise. But we both know that will never happen."

Haru gripped his hand tighter as she asked, "Why?"

"It's difficult to explain."

"I'm listening. Go on, I have all the time in the world."

"Haru, I don't know if you'll like hearing this, but I was made. I wasn't born like you were. I never experienced growing up, or going to high school, or the thousands of things that helped shape you into what you are now. I was created with Louise, and we were meant to be together. That is irrevocable." Baron looked at Haru's distressed face with sympathy. "As for you, you should be with someone who can relate to you, who knows what it's like to be human, who knows what it is to be born, live, and eventually, die. You owe Machida an explanation, at the very least, and an apology."

Haru looked away from him. "I can't believe you're saying this. You mean no one can sway you from Louise?"

"I thought I had made that clear." In Baron's voice echoed the same pain he had seen in her eyes. "That's why I said in all my relationships there was always that pain, that I could never return anyone else's affections fully. Including yours."

Haru remained silent for long minutes. "Oh, Baron. But didn't the one who make you ever consider you might want to separate from her? Because, listening to you, I have the feeling you aren't happy with her, and it's something that goes beyond her trying to kill you."

"Did I give you that impression? No, I'm perfectly happy with her. I'm just not thrilled with her actions lately. In fact, they've been bothering me. Louise and I, we were instilled with a love for humanity by the apprentice who made us. She shouldn't be able to do what she's doing now, hurting and killing people for fun and profit and stealing from them. That's anathema to us."

A surprising grin broke out on Haru's face. "Just not thrilled with her actions lately, eh? Baron, you're a master of understatement. I bow to you. At least it means you'll never walk down the path she took," she added in a more sober tone.

"Yes, well, I have often wondered what it would be like to be evil," the Cat told her. "Perhaps the passage of time and the growth of our own memories are weakening the compulsion laid on us by our creator." He shrugged. "I don't know. There is much I don't know."

"An evil Baron Humbert von Jikkingen," Haru mused. "If that part about your... compulsion being weakened were true, you could fall in love with someone else other than the Baroness. Maybe that's why you wanted female companionship at times."

"Yes. I think that could explain it. And it would also be the reason why we're in this forbidden love right now."

"I feel like a branded woman every time you say something like that," Haru remarked.

Baron looked at her. "As in Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'?" He considered for a split second. Haru raised her eyebrows in confusion, but the Cat pressed on. ''We don't need Hester's A on our chests," he dismissed. "We both have one on our hearts now, and that is enough. And speaking of being a branded woman, Haru, I have yet to apply such a mark on you today." He shifted on the armrest. "Lean a little closer."

------oOo------

Half an hour later, over cups of weak barley tea, the couple was silently looking out the French windows at the sun dipping itself into its watery grave. The sky had turned a flaming red-orange, the sea appeared to be on fire, and the land looked like it was bathed in blood. They stayed silent until the churning of young woman's mind made her speak up. The Cat had taken a chair from the small dining table and was sitting beside her.

"Baron, a question, please."

"Yes?"

"When you first met me, what was your initial impression?"

"Hmm. Let's see, you seemed like a nice girl who was down on her luck at the time—the perfect client for the Cat Business Office. You had a demure air about you that I liked, and the way you stood up to Lune's father in the tower only increased my admiration for you."

Haru colored slightly. "Really?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I was thinking all the time how much a burden I was to you. You remember what Muta was saying then."  
"Come on, Haru, you know he always talks like that. But he has a good heart and he did help you, didn't he? We don't think of our clientele as burdens, they're the reason the Cat Business Office exists. Anyway, it was our duty to help you, so no matter what, we wouldn't have left you to your fate."

"I'm glad to hear that." Haru took a sip of her tea. "Do you remember what Muta said when you asked him about the Cat Kingdom?"

"No, what?"

"He said the Cat Kingdom was a place for people with no brains. But I'm finding out that it's not true. The Sergeant was thinking, and so were the pirates, unfortunately. Cameron also isn't dumb, not by a long shot."

Baron finished his cup and set it down on the small serving cart that Windamary had wheeled in minutes earlier. "Yes, but I wonder what Lune's scheming in that turret apartment of his. Sometimes I think he takes after his father a little too much. He should have brought Natoru along to provide him a different viewpoint. Ah, yes, before your loveliness makes me forget. Here." He produced a small container from his waistcoat pocket and gave her a small round green pill from it. "Swallow this."

"Flatterer," Haru said jokingly, taking it from him. "What is it?"

"It's for your wound. That's the last one I have. I gave the other to Seiji. Go on, swallow it, that's a good girl."

Haru took it into her mouth and gulped it down without any water. "Blech!" she protested, making a face. "That was awful!"

"You're like a little kid who doesn't want to take her medicine." Baron returned the empty container to his pocket. "Little girl, that will heal your wound, far better than any simple surgery can."

"Heal my wound? Why didn't you use this when Louise stabbed you?"

"It only works for full humans," he answered. "And only for small wounds, and those not poisoned."

"I see. Thank you."

"Haru?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. I would've given anything to be there to protect you."

"Baron, like I said, it's not your fault. At least I have more confidence in myself now, since I'm still coming with you to the Lonely Isles."

Frowning, Baron reached over and tweaked her nose. "I was afraid you'd say that. But since you made it through this incident, I'll feel a lot easier now. You've experienced firsthand how vicious the pirates can be. It's good that you're reluctant to kill them, but I hope you recall what Gabriel told you."

Well did Haru remember that, all the way back at the Cat King's Castle, during one of the early training sessions. Gabriel said they beat and tortured most of their prisoners, sometimes killed them even. To judge by Shoukichi's bludgeoned appearance when he returned, the Swordmaster was telling the truth.

Haru spent a few minutes relating her thoughts on the encounter to Baron. Among the things she said was, "I'm surprised I acted the way I did. Back in high school I was usually content to hide behind Hiromi and Kei whenever problems arose, or compromise like I usually do now. But I guess that just wasn't possible, so–"

"You did what you had to do, which was something really against your wishes. That takes a lot of courage, Haru."

Haru pursed her lips. "I wasn't feeling very courageous. Like I said, I was scared."

"And still you acted accordingly. That fits the definition." Baron leaned and kissed her forehead. "Don't belittle yourself."

She smiled and tilted her head up, and Baron planted a soft kiss on her offered lips. "Mhmmhmm," she noised happily. "If this were a reward I'd get every time I got in a fight..." She straightened a little so she could smooch him again. Their mouths made a luscious little smacking noise as they kissed. A thrill ran down Haru's back, and a smoldering heat began to warm her belly. She wished she could go farther...

"Don't even think about it," Baron scolded her as they finally broke apart. "You shouldn't press your luck."

Haru blinked, reshifting her train of thought from her embarrassingly private one to the previous topic. "I know, I know. I must be turning into an adrenalin junkie, or a kiss junkie. Are you busy just now?"

"Not really. Why?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Well, this branded woman wants you to stay with her for as long as you can."

Baron smiled at her and gave in to her request. They chatted amiably for some twenty minutes, after which Haru, sounding surprised, said she felt sleepy. He told her that was due to the medicine, and made her get ready for bed.

"Bed?" she protested. "But it's too early!"

"Trust me, dear girl. You'll be soon be sleeping like Winken, Blynken, and Nod. Now go get ready." Baron smiled. "_Aka-chan._"

Haru rummaged in a dresser and disappeared into the bathroom to do her ablutions. In the meantime, the cat gentleman busied himself fluffing up her pillows and fixing her bed.

Several minutes later the bathroom door opened, and Baron found himself staring at a nightgown-clad Haru. The silken white material covered her all the way from her neck to her ankles. While the whole garment was safely opaque, it was made in such a way that it clung discreetly to all the right places. The feline felt his cheeks warm a bit and the hairs at the back of his neck stand up.

"I hope I don't look too stupid," she said, stifling a yawn with her hand. "It's so early and yet I'm already going to sleep."

"You don't look stupid. In fact you look quite elegant, my dear," commented the Cat as he rounded the bed and took her hand.

"I never saw a... sleepy person look elegant." Another suppressed yawn.

"Hush." The Cat helped her get in bed, then tucked her in. Haru was surprised when he laid a small folded towel across her forehead, partially covering her eyes.

"What's this for? I'm not sick."

"You might like it. It's said to help you sleep."

"Oh."

"In any case, I'll stay here for a while and make sure."

Haru smiled sleepily. "Thanks," she murmured. "That means a lot to me. Baron, as much as I'd like you to, please don't do anything _ecchi_ to me while I'm asleep."

The Cat rolled his eyes and an annoyed expression passed over his features. "As if I would. I'd be insulted by what you just said, if I didn't know by that goofy smile on your face that you were joking."

"Nyahaha. Sorry, I've never had a guy around while wearing stuff like this, not even Kei. He always warned me when he was coming over, just so I wouldn't mistake him for a robber and hit him over the head with something..." Haru stretched and yawned hugely.

Already halfway to the land of the Brother of Death, she closed her eyes and began to complete the journey. She felt the bed give as Baron sat beside her, and although she could never be sure afterwards, as she fell asleep it felt like a hand began running itself over her hair, and a strong male voice began crooning her a lullaby in a foreign language. Her sleep was sweet and full of strange, delightful dreams; perhaps the momentary soft pressure on her cheek she felt at one point was part of them.

* * *

**Author's Postscript:** Prince Lir and Lady Amalthea are from the movie _The Last Unicorn,_ which was animated for Rankin & Bass by Studio Topcraft, which later on did work on _Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind_ and became the nucleus of Studio Ghibli. 


	18. The Captain

THE CAPTAIN

Haru's last dream was very different from the ones she experienced—had she only known—while the Cat Baron was with her. She was once again alone with the Cat, who was standing in front of her in his Morning Coat, with his two hands firmly on his cane, and they were in her room. She couldn't tell what time it was, because the windows looked as if they had been covered by sheets of black velvet. The room was in a moody half-shadow that bore down heavily on her soul, oppressive and silent.

"Baron," Haru said softly, "if you must return to Louise, you must. But I'll take what I can, when I can. While I can." She started to undress, undoing the zip in the back of her yellow gown.

The Cat beheld her with a blank expression on his face.

"Baron?"

He stirred. "Haru, let's not cross a line we can't uncross." He stepped to her and put his hand over the one lowering her zip, stopping her. He fastened her dress back up.

Haru looked sadly down at the floor. "I guess you're right. But if you'll pardon me, I think I'm going to have a good cry."

He let her, and the tears were flowing down her cheeks when Baron put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up. "The summer of our love has come and gone. You must let it be that way, and let me go," he said softly. "Let our love go to its autumn and winter and bury it under the snow."

"I can't do that!" she cried. "I lo–"

The Cat suddenly covered her lips with his, in a long kiss that ended with them separating slowly. As they broke the kiss, Haru felt her heart breaking at the same time.

The cat gentleman looked at her. His own orbs were moist. Then, without another word, he turned and headed for the door.

"Baron!" Haru called, her voice pleading, even though she knew he wouldn't heed her, would continue walking away.

The Cat reached for the door and opened it. Standing on the other side, waiting with a beatific smile, was Louise, resplendent in her flowing, long-skirted light-blue gown, and with a magical city brightly lit by an eternal sun as her background. Golden tresses fell down the sides of her head in curling waves, and her teal-colored eyes looked at Baron in happiness. She extended her hand.

Baron took it and stood at her side. They waved to Haru, and as quickly as he had come into her life those years ago, the Cat left it, by vanishing into thin air with his beloved. The door to the other country closed of its own accord, and Haru remained standing in the middle of the room and wept bitterly.

------oOo------

_No, no, no,_ she thought in anguish, even as dream gave way to reality; she woke up with still-closed eyes and found herself crying. Without knowing how she knew it, she knew she had been vouchsafed a vision of the future.

_Is that what lies at the end for me? I knew I promised Baron I would only stay with him until we found Louise again, but why is parting so painful? I wish it wouldn't be so. I can't let it get me down._ She opened her wet eyes and stared up at the dark-brown ceiling. _I won't let it get me down. If I let it end like that all of this happiness will have been for naught. Better to face it with a smile, and go back to Kei-chan. If he'll still have me._

With an effort she sat up in bed. The dawn was near. Haru got herself moving, rummaging through the drawers and dressers for a decent set of clothes to wear. Then she brushed her teeth, took a shower and headed downstairs to the kitchen. One more day turning into history in her dalliance with Baron. She would make the most of it, and get rid of the guilty feeling she had about being a lazybones and letting everyone else do the work here as well.

------oOo------

"Sensei! What're you doing here?"

"Oh, hi, Haru," the elder woman greeted her, looking up from washing the dishes in one of the vast kitchen's large white ceramic sinks. "What brings you here?"

"I... well, I was going to help Windamary if I could."

"So you can. She's over there." With a nod of the head Shizuku indicated the farther end of the busy kitchen. "I'm sure she'll find you something to do."

Haru headed for Fort Lorum's chief of staff and found her supervising a throng of cats. The Russian Blue looked at her in surprise, then smiled as Haru explained her presence there.

"If you'll put yourself under Cameron's charge," she said, "I'll get a breakfast ready for that sweetheart of yours. When it's ready I'll call you and bring it up to his room."

"No, that won't be necessary," said Haru. "I'd... I'd like to bring it to him myself."

"Okay, then. And I'll have something for that glutton friend of his and the crow as well."

"Thank you, Windamary-shocho," Haru said, bowing to her.

"It's not a big deal, but having two of the King's guests helping here is very unusual. Oh, Cameron! Come here. Yes, good morning. Lady Yoshioka would like to help in the kitchen. Please take her under your paw and give her something to do."

"Yes, Mom," the little cat replied, bowing. "Good morning, Lady Yoshioka. Is your door giving you any more trouble?"

"No. Thank you for having it fixed."

"Not a problem. This way, please. A helping hand is always welcome."

------oOo------

"Aiya, is that how you cook squid rings in your world?"

Haru quickly took the wok off the fire. "Sorry, I guess I made the batter a little too watery."

"It's okay, but don't burn any more, we can't afford it. Here, let me make the batter while you turn the stove off first and cut up some more rings." The cat walked to the nearby refrigerator and busied himself doing something in front of it.

Chop-chop-chop went the fat-bladed knife, and soon Haru had two platefuls of the slippery decapods ready. In the meantime the little orange tom had come up with a large bowl of creamy, cold batter, and soon they had the wok heated and the train restarted.

"Much better," Cameron said as he sampled their effort. "Maybe a tad more salt." As Haru watched, a white jar floated off the condiment shelves high up on the wall and went into his hands. The servant unscrewed it and tossed a liberal amount of the crystalline substance into the batter. "That should do it."

As the cat returned the jar to the shelf, Haru said, "I wish I had magic powers." She carefully flipped some of the squid rings over.

"I wish I had a bigger body so the ladies would be interested in me," the tom returned evenly. "Or that I were as handsome as you are pretty, Lady Yoshioka."

"But you _are_ cute," she said. "And you can call me Haru." She gave him a quick pinch on a furry cheek.

There was a rhythmic thumping sound that came from behind them, and they both turned around to see a cat in a fitting khaki uniform enter the room from the wide double doors on the opposite wall that served as the entranceway for the food carts and supply crates.

Cameron's eyes grew wide, and he straightened himself up and bowed.

"Captain Loriel, welcome. I suppose you're looking for your pitcher?"

Haru suddenly felt the temperature in the room lower by several degrees. She couldn't make out if it was purely in her mind, or was physical as well.

"Yes, Cameron. Have you seen it?"

If there was ever a combination of _feline fatale_ and commanding presence personified, she was it. Taller than Baron, with white fur and coal-black ears, tail, paws and startling whitish eyes set within an ebon face mask, with a distinctive M standing out on her forehead and a body whose sexiness seemed to transcend species lines, Captain Loriel was a tabby whom no one would easily forget after seeing.

She had a pair of three-toed metal feet and lower legs, which seemed in Haru's eyes to add a barbaric flair to her glamour. These thumped on the floor as she walked, and she stopped short of the refrigerator to regard the person eyeing her.

"And who is this human, may I ask, Cameron?" Her voice, low and suspicious, held a note of hostility in it.

"A friend of King Lune's, Captain, who wanted to help out here." Cameron introduced Haru, who bowed to her.

"Nice to meet you," Haru said, not knowing the proper address or how to deal with the suddenly frosty look in the Captain's piercing gaze.

Captain Loriel looked a moment more at her, then made a perfunctory nod and turned away. She opened the refrigerator door. "Aaah. Here it is."

Haru had to bestir herself and look to the frying calamari. She was dumping them on a bed of tissues to absorb the oil when she happened to look back at the Captain. The cat had a large pitcher to her mouth, and was greedily gulping the contents down when a thin stream happened to overflow and trickle down the Captain's white-furred neck. It was scarlet red, crimson red, the syrupy red of—

"Blood?" Haru asked involuntarily. The Captain heard her and set the pitcher down on a nearby metal table.

"Yes, Lady Yoshioka," she answered, wiping the spill with a digit and sucking on it as she walked slowly towards Haru with an ominous look in her eyes. "It's blood. My favorite drink. This one's the best of them all." She stopped in front of Haru, and her gaze seemed to transfix her, impaling her where she stood. Her right paw slowly came up and lighted on Haru's cheek, giving it a featherlight caress that felt more sensual than the young lady cared to admit.

"A lovely human," Captain Loriel purred. "It's so unusual to see one this far in the Cat Kingdom. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Edeline Loriel. I'm the leader of this installation." She smiled, and for the first time Haru saw—with considerable apprehension—that her fangs were very long and sharp.

Captain Loriel let go of her cheek, and her gaze settled on Haru's neck. "My favorite drink of all," she said in a voice that sent shivers through the young woman's body, "is human blood."

Haru's shock rose to the level where she regained her senses, enough to snap out of her mesmerization. She stepped back and quickly turned the stove down, as the wok was already smoking.

"_D-dame_," she stuttered, distrait. "Cameron, could you please pass me the bowl of blood—I mean batter!" The small cat gave it to her, and she refilled the cooker with raw rings.

All of a sudden there was a breath on her shoulder. "Mmm, that smells nice. Are we going to have that for breakfast?"

"Yes, Captain," came Cameron's reply.

Haru jumped out of her skin when she felt something warm and moist run across the skin at the side of her throat. It felt like—yes, it was—a tongue. Loriel, for some reason, was laving her exposed skin. Haru, confused and panicky, gave up her attempt at maintaining a cool façade and edged away from the cat behind her. "Please, don't stand so close to me," she requested. "A-and don't do that. I-I don't like it."

"Oh, I'm sorry," came the harsh voice at her ear "I didn't know you disliked that. I'll be on my way and leave you alone. Just let me just finish my drink," said Captain Loriel. She clonked back to her pitcher and knocked the contents down with a single gulp. Then she took it to a sink mounted against the wall, carefully rinsed it, and set it back on the metal table.

"Ah, that hit the spot. Helping out with the repairs on that bollixed ship sure takes the life out of one. Cameron, be sure to keep this filled for me, okay?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Then farewell for now. Oh, and a good morning to you, Lady Yoshioka." The tabby bowed and sauntered on her clanking legs out the door.

Haru breathed a noisy sigh of relief. The heat from the fire seemed to reach her chilled skin again. "So that's the famous Captain Loriel?"

"Yes, it was. Did she scare you, Lady Yoshioka?"

Haru nodded. "With her running her tongue over me like that?" She used the neck of her shirt to wipe herself. "What do you think?"

"No one's told you?" Cameron paused, as if weighing a decision in his mind. "The Captain's a vampire."

Haru paled. "Whaaaat?"

"Uh-huh. She died when she was struck by a horse-drawn cart in your world, but woke up again and found herself like that. She also lost her rear legs in that accident, so she isn't exactly fond of you humans."

"Is-is that pitcher really–"

"Filled with human blood? Yes. We buy it from your blood banks. Ever since she saved New Lorum from the pirates, the people have been grateful enough to provide her with free blood meals."

"She's never touched them?"

"She used to, that when she was still trying to cope with herself. There was a time in the distant past when she terrorized this town, when it was still called Lorum. For some reason, though, she had a change of heart, and since then she's never touched a cat hereabouts. It's very lucky for her she only needs a little blood. Usually a pitcher of the human variety lasts her a week."

"You people should have told me!" exclaimed Haru as she realized the terrible danger they had been in. "She might have fed on me or the Amasawas! I might have been turned into a vampire myself!"

"Lady Yoshioka," Cameron shot back in a surprisingly hard voice, "if she posed any threat to you King Lune would not have allowed you to come here. You're a stranger to this town and its ways, so I forgive you of what you said, but know this: you are insulting Captain Loriel and I won't have any more of it. You don't know what you're talking about."

"But what was that business of licking my neck, huh? She was tasting me, wasn't she? Are you in league with her?" Haru was on the verge of dropping everything and running out of the kitchen with Shizuku in tow. "A fresh supply of human blood on two legs, in the very kitchen in which she feeds? How convenient!"

"She was tasting you, yes. But she won't bite you. If she had bitten you, she would've been honor-bound to suck your blood until you died, until you couldn't turn into a vampire any more. But because she's developed a conscience, she doesn't do that any more, not without a very good reason. It's also why she stopped turning cats into vampires, like she used to."

"As for licking your skin, she does that so she can tell if you're someone she can trust or has to be wary of. She also knows first-timers are always scared of her, and doing that is her idea of a joke. A strange one, I grant you, but there it is."

"Well, it wasn't funny," Haru said petulantly. She stirred the squid rings. "No wonder I couldn't move."

"Oh, Lady Yoshioka, please trust me on this. I swear no harm will come to any of you humans from her, even though the Captain has reason to dislike you. If worse comes to worst, I can deal with her," reassured the servant. The possibility didn't seem to fill him with joy, if the look on his face was any indication.

"Cameron! I'm done with the dishes!" came the voice of Shizuku, who walked out from behind a rack of stacked trays, dishes, glasses and cutlery, wiping her hands on a rag. "Windamary says—Haru, what happened to you? You're as white as a sheet."

"Er–I met Captain Loriel," the younger woman answered. "Very interesting person." _Very interesting? _she thought in disbelief. _I'm starting to sound like Baron._

Cameron chortled, and Shizuku looked at him, puzzled. "Oh, really? Was she the one who came in here? I could hear her walking around but didn't know who it was. Too bad. I would've liked to meet her. Cameron, Windamary's calling you. She's in the larder."

"Yes, I'll go. Lady Yoshioka, let's stop for now. I'll have one of the cooks take over." Haru bowed and turned to Shizuku, and Cameron left, muttering something about overtime pay.

"I'm sure you would've liked meeting her, sensei," she agreed with a straight face, wiping her hands on a towel and switching the burner off. "But you should bring a towel, and spray yourself with perfume," she cautioned. "Have you ever taken care of a dog?"

"No, why?"

"What does a dog like to do with its tongue?"

"Um, pant with it? Lick your face?"

Haru's laugh escaped her. Shizuku's quizzical look only intensified.

"Nothing, nothing. It's not important."

Shrugging, Shizuku dismissed the exchange and helped herself to a piece from the large bowl. "Hey, not bad."

------oOo------

Some time later, a long distance away, the Black Cat groaned and shifted in her hard wooden seat. Her buttocks ached, and she hazily recalled the orgy of drinking and eating she and some of the gang had indulged in after the group that had left for New Lorum returned.

When the long-faced and badly injured collection of dogs and cats came into the pirate lair, the Black Cat had given them a curt dismissal, ordering them to take care of their wounded. Then, several hours later, she gathered the ambulatory together and rebuked them for failing their mission. It was an unexpected setback; she had not expected the human friends of King Lune to be able to resist, except maybe for that Haru Yoshioka, and even then not against such a large force. Three against fifty, and the three won? Either they were very lucky or the pirates were very incompetent. During the scolding Louise had inwardly flinched; she had kept the idea a secret from Phaecis, who wanted nothing to do with and no one to touch New Lorum, but had banked that a success would mollify the Pirate King when he learned about it. But now...

The feast was her way of dealing with the matter; but the alpha dog, for some reason, hadn't shown up, and nobody knew where he had gone. Perhaps, one old soul speculated, he was once again roaming the island in one of those moody fits of his.

The Black Cat removed her legs from atop the table and saw the various foodstuffs still littering it. Sleeping cats and dogs were scattered throughout the bulb-lit hall, and their snores punctuated the silence.

She stood up and prodded the nearest cat, who woke and looked up at her with bleary eyes. "Ayuma," she said, "go check the generators. Tell me if there's still enough fuel."

The cat yawned and stretched. "Yes, ma'am." She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stumbled on unsteady legs out the main doors of the hall.

The Black Cat debated on whether to wake the rest of the crew and get their drunken butts out of the hall. Phaecis was sure to get mad if he saw his table and food in this sorry state. As she was about to shout at them, though, the muffled sound of something being dragged behind her made her pause and turn around.

In the shadowy light the gray Pirate King loomed large and silent. He held a quiet menace in his eyes, and a sack in his hands.

The Black Cat examined the bag. It had blood on the sackcloth, and as the huge Husky adjusted his grip on it an arm fell out and its paw dangled slackly...

She looked straight at the appendage. "Oh, Phaecis, did you really have to kill Evogöd? He was a fine subordinate."

At first the leader of the pirates didn't answer. Then he clenched a paw and growled, "You made me do it, Doctor. It is you, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"I told you never to send anyone against New Lorum. We dared enough destroying the Cat garrison two days ago. Now we have unnecessarily injured people and one who might not make it through the day." Sarpov, the dog whose throat had been crushed by landing on Seiji's pipe. "We may have proven our usefulness to each other in the past, but your continuing presumption is wearing my patience thin. Don't try me any more, or I will end this relationship of ours."

The Black Cat smirked. "You will? Oh, please, you're breaking my heart. If you had taken my advice and kidnapped them before they got to New Lorum–"

"We didn't know where they went, remember?" Phaecis reminded her. "Doctor, I'll let this slide, but I need to borrow your submersible."

"Which one?"

"The _Platy._ I need to drop this off." The Husky indicated the bundle.

"Oh? Where?"

"None of your business."

The Black Cat shrugged and scratched her leather shirt. Time for a morning bath, she supposed. "Fine, have it your way. She's all yours." The evil cat stretched luxuriously. "I'm going to take a shower." With that she strode up to the throne mounted at the further end of the hall, pushed a button on its back, and went into her lair through the door thus revealed. The stone shut behind her with a dull thud that woke some of the sleeping cats up.

Phaecis resumed dragging his burden to the hidden docks.

------oOo------

"_Anata,_ what's that you're writing?"

Seiji looked up from the small table. "Evening, Shicchan. Nothing much. Would you mind if I went back to _La Ballade_ tonight? There's something I need to do."

Shizuku sat down beside him. "Of course not. I was sort of hoping we could have a nice, quiet night together."

"Later, I promise, I'll be at your beck and call. I won't be long."


	19. Eat, Drink and be Merry

EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY

Under the bright early-morning mackerel sky flushed in rose, the Cat rushed down the street with Muta at his side. As soon as he saw what Toto had called him out for, he slowed to a walk.

"And you say this is one of Phaecis' commanders?"

"That's what they told me. Hey, look, there's Lune."

They made their way to a flagpole near the town's west gate. There, dangling from the very cord used to haul the ensign of the Cat King up and down, was the body of a dog. It was bloodied and stiff, clearly dead. Its eyes looked up to the heavens in a silent, glassy plea, and its tongue hung out the side of its mouth.

The dark-blue-furred Cat King in the red robes turned from the horror on the flagpole and saw Baron. "Ah, von Jikkingen. Glad to see you're finally here."

"What's the story here, King Lune?"

"This person can tell you more than I," answered the Cat King, gesturing to the white-furred tabby beside him. She turned around, and a polite fanged smile greeted Baron and Muta. "Captain Edeline Loriel, the Baron von Jikkingen and his friend, Renaldo Moon."

The vampiric cat nodded, and Baron doffed his hat. "Ah, the Mistress of the Fortress. Your fame precedes you." They had both been warned by Gabriel what to expect beforehand. Strange that she didn't seem to obey ordinary folkloric precepts as to what a vampire was. She was standing out in the sunlight, for instance, with nothing to mark her as different from anyone else except the sleek, upswept shades she wore, and perhaps the metal legs as well.

"Likewise, Baron." She made a brusque gesture towards the body. "This is Evogöd, one of the Pirate King Phaecis' most highly placed subordinates. He was left here as a gift for us."

"Oh?" The Baron's brows went up.

"The gate guards say that early this morning, just after the guard exhange, Phaecis came strutting in like a peacock bearing the body of his comrade, then knocked them out with a sort of blowgun. When they came to they were trussed up like a couple of chickens and this had been left in the state you see it. A letter was included." The Captain produced a slip of paper from out of her velvety maroon uniform jacket and read it out loud.

_My dear Edeline:  
I remember my promise to you, and have nothing to with the attempt  
to abduct your human guests yesterday. This usurper and the Black Cat  
planned it on their own. I give you his carcass as a sign that it will not happen  
again._

Captain Loriel folded the paper. "Signed, the Pirate King."

Muta grunted. "You've got to hire better cats than these, King Lune. Just one pirate and they fail to stop him?"

"You haven't seen Phaecis, have you, or heard his tales?" the cat with the blue and red eyes asked.

"Nope, not much except the part about the food."

"Then don't be so quick to judge."

The giant cat's hackles raised and he looked as though he wanted to say something. Instead, he acquiesced and asked, "Won't you cut him down?"

The Captain slowly removed her sunglasses and gave him a blank look. "Why?"

"Why?" Muta parroted, outraged. "For decency's sake!"

Captain Loriel tilted her head to contemplate the dangling body. "Funny. He doesn't seem to be complaining about his situation, does he?"

Muta regarded the cat with the metal feet with the same contempt he would give a hock of rotten Angus beef. "You're just as terrible as they are," he muttered.

The Captain's eyes flashed their pale glare. For a moment King Lune and Baron felt the tension crackle between the two. Then the tabby smiled.

"Thank you for the compliment, my giant fellow," she said. "I haven't heard that in a long time."

"Eh?" Muta looked at Baron and tapped the side of his head.

"Yes, they're all too afraid to tell me the truth to my face," continued the Captain, as if Muta hadn't just insulted her. "Only the King here and a few crusty curmudgeons have the decency to tell a girl she's a horrible creature."

"Yeah, well, I'm not afraid of you," Muta declared.

The Captain inclined her head. "So you say." She made a little gesture and went back to examining the body.

Muta turned to Baron, but the latter was busy whispering to King Lune. When he had straightened up the fat cat led him a little ways apart from the gathering.

"Did you see what she did?" Muta asked him.

"What?"

"She winked at me! Did Gabriel ever say anything about Captain Loriel being soft in the head?"

"No." Baron smiled up at him in amusement and tipped his top hat back. "That might just mean she likes you." He started to return to the throng.

"What?" Muta called as he followed. "But I don't want—" he caught up with Baron and lowered his voice "—I don't want a vampire to like me! To her I'm just a big bag of blood!"

"Ah, dear fellow, I'm sure you'll know how to deal with it. After all, you do have a way with the tabbies." The Cat turned away and began to listen to Lune talking once more.

"Oh, no you don't, Baron! That's your department, not mine!" His words went unheard by the concentrating cat gentleman, and after listening to Lune for a while himself, he warily snuck away from the others and began to search the nearby shops for something.

------oOo------

Within the space of an hour Baron had called the three visitors to the Cat Kingdom together. They sat in a little drawing-room off Fort Lorum's main library, which was at the ground floor close to the dining hall where King Lune and his officers took their meals.

"Lune's not waiting any more," he told them as he paced the carpeted floor in front of them. "With the attempt to kidnap you and the pirates destroying the garrison in the Lonely Isles, he's decided it's too risky to wait any longer and to press the attack the day after tomorrow, whether or not the _Longshallows_ can come with us."

"So everything's ready, then?" Seiji asked.

"Except for the monitor and the loading of the supplies onto the troopships, yes."

Shizuku raised a finger. "Baron, we're still coming along on the _Matatabi,_ aren't we?"

"Yes. Lune's reserved you a cabin."

"How long will it take to get there?" asked Seiji, who hadn't exactly been poring over the maps of the region, despite their ready accessibility in the library.

"The captain of the _Matatabi_ tells me anywhere from six to eight hours, depending on the weather and on how treacherous the currents are at a particular time."

"The Lonely Isles are that close?"

Baron nodded.

"So we're leaving at what, ten in the evening?" Haru asked, mixed anticipation and apprehension on her features.

"Eight. Got to keep a margin for unexpected events."

"You mean emergencies," corrected Seiji.

Baron shrugged.

"Well, then, that means we'll have to put what little is left of our stay here to good use," said Haru. "I've practiced with you only twice since we got here." She lifted her arm. There was no wound on it, only the slightest trace of a line of white to mark where it had been. The stitches were still there, however. They was not much of a problem, since the thread was of the dissolving kind; Haru was merely squeamish about having them taken out so soon, just after she had endured the stitching. "Thanks for the medicine you gave me."

"And me," Seiji added. "Good as new." He flexed an arm and smirked.

"I'm glad it was of use," acknowledged Baron. "I've been carrying it with me for the longest time." He addressed Haru. "Tomorrow let's spar again. And to make things interesting, let's have a bet."

"Oh? What sort of bet?"

"Whoever loses has to obey the commands of the winner."

Haru thought it over. "Best two out of three."

"You're on." Baron offered her his hand, and she grinned and shook it.

Shizuku observed them sealing their compact and earnestly hoped that Haru would be alright, involved in a heated battle so far from their world. She wondered at her willingness to risk her life for Sir Cat, and though she could find fault with their relationship, she could not help but appreciate the depth of Haru's feeling for him. As the saying went, many were the friends who would drink with you; few were the ones who would die with you.

------oOo------

The busy fort was raucous that night, with rowdy parties of soldiers cutting loose and scattering cheer—and woe—everywhere. Lune let them, and the townspeople tolerated their shenanigans; they knew some of the intrepid souls might not return, and the guards at the fort gates and the town watch kept a close eye to see that none of them bothered the worthy souls who contributed much to the region's gross domestic product (measured in meese or catnipses, depending on whom one asked).

Joining the festivities was Muta and, surprisingly, Toto. Seiji and Shizuku found them sitting on the rim of the lowest of the ponds of the gigantic fish fountain that stood in the middle of Fort Lorum's massive courtyard, singing drunkenly of a potato moon and the delights of Roppongi. Both had little silver party hats on their heads. Additionally, Muta had a rope of garlic strung around his neck.

"I wonder where they got the hats," Seiji mused as he dodged a soldier cat running on all fours past them, with a comrade happily his back, mug of duff raised in the air.

"Hats nothing," differed Shizuku. "I wonder how they know about Roppongi. And why is Moon wearing that garlic?"

"You want to go ask them?"

"No. I have a better idea to pass the night." Seiji found her grin pleasant and mischievous at the same time.

------oOo------

While the couple was heading away from the singing pair of Cat Business Office agents, two star-crossed lovers of different humanities, stood on the veranda which extended from the King's dining hall and overlooked the sea, making hushed talk together as one enfolded the other in a steadfast embrace and the other leaned her back against him.

"Thank you for the breakfast again yesterday, Haru. That was quite a surprise for me, and very sweet of you."

"You're more than welcome. Although, like I told you, Windamary prepared it, not I."

"Ah, but you had the idea, didn't you? I really—Haru, what..."

Haru had turned around and pressed herself against Baron. "I had a dream last night." She breathed in his scent.

"Oh? What about?"

"You and I saying goodbye to each other. We had finally found Louise, and I was happy and sad at the same time. I wanted a memento of you so much, Baron, that when you refused to give it to me I cried in my dream, and woke up crying for real."

"What memento, Haru? If it's within my power to give you..."

Haru's hands tightened briefly on Baron's back. "I wanted you. You, your body." She whispered something in so low a voice the Cat had to strain to hear it.

"Oh, Haru... I can't do that, and you know it."

Haru turned her face up and smiled wanly at him. "That's the same thing you said in the dream. I know. I also know myself a little better now. Don't worry, dear heart, I'm not that stupid."

"Haru, you and Machida, didn't you–"

"That was what we were fighting about. He wanted it and I didn't. At least, not yet." She told him about the evolution of the whole sordid affair.

"I see. I can understand him being frustrated, but that's no excuse to act beastly towards you."

Haru looked away. "I don't know. Perhaps I'm the one being unfair to him. I mean, look at me. I even _dream_ of throwing myself at you and yet I don't want to go to 'C' with my own boyfriend in real life."

"'C'?"

Haru looked back up at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's high-school talk. 'A' is kissing, 'B' is, um, petting, 'C' is making love, 'D' is getting pregnant."

"They talk about those in school?"

"Of course!"

"In my time it was discussed only behind closed doors, with a confidant or two."

"Well, a lot of things have changed since your time. You should know that better than I."

"I know. Heh, I just couldn't connect it to you."

"Why not?"

"Well, you look so... innocent."

"Innocent, eh? Just because I was given this face doesn't mean I don't have the same wishes and drives as the next human being."

"Indeed. You're quite smart for someone who hasn't even lived a quarter of a century."

"But in the game of love," returned Haru sadly, taking his gloved hand and kissing the back of it, "I'm the dumbest player of all."

"No you're not. Don't ever think that about yourself. Love isn't something that can be managed. It's like the wind: it blows where it will, and sometimes you find yourself caught up in it."

"You told me your love for Louise was irrevocable–"

"­­­–and yet look where I am now." There was an open question in the Cat's eyes. "Do you regret entering this with me, Haru?"

"No! I told you, let's have no regret over this! I had my chance with you. That should be enough."

"And yet, by your phrasing, it isn't. Poor Haru."

"Don't pity me, Baron. I don't want it." Haru hugged him tighter. "Instead of all this talk about regrets and making me sad, why don't you kiss me and make me happy instead?"

"Gladly."

It was a long time before they spoke again.

"You know, I've often wondered why you're so interested in someone who's of a different species," Baron said quietly.

"Like I said, it's easy to fall in love with you. When that happens, looks don't matter anymore." She stroked his cheek. "Maybe it's the lure of the unknown. Every woman wants something that'll forever be her own, a love that sparkles only for her, a jewel that reveals its beauty only to her eyes—even when she knows it won't last forever, even if she has to buy it with great pain." She closed her eyes, leaned forward a little, and kissed him.

It was short kiss, and afterwards Baron held her tightly, trying to shield her from both her poignant thoughts and the chill wind. His voice was quiet as he said, "I'm so sorry."

Far below them, the waves boomed against the shore. "Don't worry about me, Baron. When the time comes, I'll bury this love of ours in the snow. Then we'll both be free to return to them, if they want us back."

Haru heard a gasp, and the Cat pulled away from her. "How did you know that?" he asked, a look of something akin to awe in his eyes. "I was thinking of the same thing."

"Of what?"

"'Love, wake through spring, frolic in the summer, and ready thyself in autumn, to lie once more in the snow in winter,'" the cat gentleman quoted. "Haru, can you read my mind? Do you have magic, like Shizuku does?"

"I have no magic. Just a dream." She sighed and gripped his tailcoat tighter. "Don't let it end just yet, please."

Baron lifted her face up by the chin and kissed her for a long time. Deep inside, he was repudiating her. _No, Haru, you're wrong. You have the magic every woman has within her. Men have poor vision, and can see it past their noses only some of the time._

------oOo------

"This?" Seiji exclaimed incredulously. "This is your 'better idea'?"

"Hah! I knew you were thinking terrible thoughts when I said that," Shizuku triumphantly pronounced with a sly, knowing grin. She had led them out to one turret roof, and they were now sitting at a deserted wooden table. Shizuku had her little book in her hands, and Seiji—she made him bring his score, along the violin he had borrowed from one of the cat musicians at _La Ballade_ too.

"Now sit there and behave yourself. You're lucky we have enough light to write by." The roof was lit by the incidental glow coming from the floodlights which illuminated the perimeter of the fort. "Play that fiddle of yours, or write, I don't care which."

"But I don't want to!" Seiji said sulkily, throwing his pen and the sheets down on the wood. "Do what you want, but I have my own, better idea."

"What's that?"

Seiji sat on the bench seat and immediately lay down with his head in Shizuku's lap.

"I'm going to sleep. Wake me when you're through."

Shizuku pushed him upright. "No! Work, or I'll be mad at you!"

"Okay, don't be so pushy," he conceded. He stripped the jacket he had worn upon leaving their room and placed it round her shoulders. "You could've at least put on something warmer than that shift. This wind is quite chilly."

"Thanks!" she said, buttoning the garment. Then she looked out at the darkness of the moonlit sea and paid him no more mind.

Seiji copied her and began poring over his own work. It was something that had popped into his mind, upon seeing the younger woman and Shizuku's creation—half-creation at least, she always gave credit to Grandpa—kissing at the battlements. The music of the breakers soothed him, and he began alternately picking up his violin and playing a passage or two, and writing it down, gesticulating and humming every now and then like a conductor leading an imaginary orchestra. The noise didn't bother Shizuku. She always liked hearing him playing in their apartment, or in Chikyuuya when they were younger (or, as in the recent past, when he was forced there because their neighbors were particularly ornery about noise pollution and paper-thin apartment walls and unappreciative of the working process of the creative mind).

Bereft of his protection from the cool wind, however, Seiji was lulled by the marine zephyr to sleep after an hour or so. He ended up just as he previously wanted, curled up on the seat, with his arm resting protectively over the papers and violin still on the table, and his head in Shizuku's lap. She smiled as she wrote with one hand and played with his black hair with the other. At one point, she bent down and kissed his ear; he grumbled and shifted, almost pulling his things to the ground. Shizuku scrambled to save them, and as she replaced them on the table, her eyes lighted on the scrawled title on one of the sheets.

_Haru and the Cat Baron._


	20. The Cat Goes to Sea

_I don't hold with this modern rhythm-style singing, Min. We are sea-faring folk. If you must sing, sing a shanty._  
-Henry Crun

THE CAT GOES TO SEA

Haru and Baron, as promised, sparred in an empty hall. This time it was full-out, with no concession to safety except the leather straps around their necks, which were supposed to prevent decapitation. She was in a long-sleeved white blouse with large standing collar and her ever-present dun-colored leggings and black boots, while he was in a dark-brown waistcoat, white open-necked shirt with bloused cuffs and black trousers and shoes.

They fought three matches under the eyes of Muta, Toto, Shizuku, and Seiji, who watched from the second-floor railing that girdled the entire circumference of the hall along with some onlookers from the household staff and the Cat Kingdom military. Baron won the first contest. Haru won the second. Now they were tangling for the third.

"What is he doing?" questioned a livid Shizuku, as Baron closed up to Haru and punched her in the solar plexus. She grimaced and crumpled to her knees, looking at him in surprise. Shizuku heard some of the onlookers gasp. "They're not supposed to hurt each other."

"You'd better tell _them_ that," Seiji said as Haru sat back on her haunches and kicked Baron's shins, knocking him off his feet.

The Cat tumbled away from the young woman and they both quickly stood up and faced each other again. This time Haru charged Baron, with that same peculiar whirling dervish motion Shizuku had seen her use while practicing alone on the turret top the day she swam with her.

Baron, with the slightest motion of his cane-blade, deflected Haru's sword and caused it to fly out of her hands. It soared some distance away and clanged as it hit the floor.

"She's lost," Seiji summarily concluded as the Cat brought his blade up to point at Haru's chest.

They all couldn't believe their eyes as Haru defiantly held the steel tip and placed it against her heart. Then she took a step forward, and Baron, who of course had no wish to harm her, was forced to step back, and back, and then drop his weapon as she continued to advance on him.

The acoustics were too bad for the onlookers to understand what the two were saying to one another. All they heard was Haru's triumphant "Hah!" She then backflipped until she reached her smallsword, picked it up, and with an insolent smile made a 'come-hither' gesture for Baron to attack her.

"That was pretty rotten of her," Toto said from his perch on the railings.

"Rotten-schmotten," said Muta, as Baron obliged his opponent and stepped towards Haru, cane-sword once more in hand. "I think she's doing the right thing, and so is Baron."

"What do you mean?" Seiji asked.

"You can't afford to fight fair against the Gang and expect to survive," said Muta.

"I think I understand," Shizuku concurred as the two began clashing swords again. "But this is getting really dangerous. What if one of them loses their temper?"

"Then the other will probably kill him or her," Muta surmised.

"Muta, you're being too melodramatic," Toto cawed.

"Shut up. Who asked you?" The fat cat put a paw to his temple. "Oh, my head. Shizuku-chan, could you please do something about it? Pretty please?"

------oOo------

In the end it was Haru who won, by some more trickery, adroit maneuvering and stamping on Baron's sword, causing him to let go of it. The Cat knelt on one knee in front of her as the point of her blade wavered about his throat. He had been caught trying to retrieve his weapon.

"I yield," the Cat said, breathing hard. "You've won."

"And you agree to obey any command I might give?" Haru asked, looking down imperiously at him.

Baron nodded.

Haru slowly withdrew her sword and sheathed it, then helped the Cat to his feet. Baron retrieved his cane-blade and tuxedo and put one back in its scabbard and draped the other over his arm. Then he bounced his walking-stick off the floor, caught it, and turned to face Haru.

"What is your wish, milady?" he asked as he unstrapped his neck protector, his voice ringing throughout the hall.

For an answer, Haru stepped up to him and whispered something in his ear. The Cat seemed taken aback for a moment, and he and his young lover faced each other like a pair of graven statues, contemplating what they saw in each other's eyes. It was clear to Shizuku that not all the contests down on the floor were over yet.

Baron put a hand to his chest and bowed. Haru smiled exultantly and nodded back, after which the Cat put on his tuxedo and motioned for Muta and Toto to join him downstairs.

Haru let him go, and Shizuku and Seiji followed Muta and Toto down the stairs and joined her. They formed a little throng, while the Cat Business Office agents formed another.

Shizuku was the first to speak. She marked the bright, happy eyes of the younger woman as she asked, "What did you command him to do?"

An impish smile formed on Haru's lips. "_Hi-mi-tsu,_" she spelled out quietly. "A secret for lovers' ears only."

"I'm a lover, Haru," remarked Seiji, boldly putting an arm around his spouse's shoulders. "Won't you tell me?"

Harrumphing, Shizuku caught hold of his forearm and gave it a friendly pinch. "If she won't tell a woman, what makes you think she'll tell you?"

Haru giggled. Shizuku attributed it to the tapering off of her adrenaline rush, the winding down of her system to normal. "I'm sorry, I can't tell both of you. If I did Baron would be dreadfully embarrassed." She excused herself, saying that she had to pack her things, and urged Shizuku and Seiji to do the same.

As Haru walked out of the hall through one of the main doors Shizuku looked at her husband. "Pack? It's only eight in the morning!"

"I don't know," said Seiji. "Seems like a good idea, don't you think? Come on, let's go fix our stuff as well."

"But I've been putting our things away a bit at a time for two days now," said Shizuku. "We don't need to pack much more. And since we're coming back to Fort Lorum anyway, I'm not going to include everything in our bags."

"Oh, does that mean you're going to leave behind that beastly cat topiary you bought in town?"

"Yes, and for your information it's not beastly. It's cute."

"I'm sure it is," Seiji humored her. The horrible green thing in a pot had been why Shizuku had helped out in the kitchen, to let her work pay for its cost. Seiji had resented her absence that morning, because he was up to cuddling with her just then, and had to let a pillow substitute for her warmth and softness... "What do you say to breakfast instead?"

"Sure, lead the way."

The couple walked out of the hall, through the padded double doors Haru had used. Three pairs of animal eyes watched them leave.

"That was really devious of you, Baron," said Toto.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the way you lost to Haru on purpose. What's she telling you to do?"

Baron looked at his colleague and a brow-whisker went up. "I didn't lose to her on purpose."

Toto doubted him immensely, but kept his beak shut.

------oOo------

The Cat Business Office agents went their own ways after holding a little conference about their activities that day, and on the stairs leading back to their room Muta met someone unexpected.

"Ah, Renaldo Moon," purred Edeline Loriel as she clanked down the staircase. Despite the relative darkness hanging around them, she was still wearing her shades. "I was looking for you."

"What do you want?" he grumbled in his most unfriendly fashion. "You're not hungry, are you?"

"No." Edeline smiled at him, and somehow the fangs didn't seem as threatening as they did the first time. "And I can still smell the garlic on you. It won't work, you know. I love garlicky food." When Muta lifted his arm to smell himself—he was just hoping to disgust her enough by his action so she would leave him alone—she added, "I saw you last night with that ridiculous necklace of yours, in case you were too drunk to remember."

"Oh, I remember _that._" Who wouldn't, when you were in danger of being turned into the undead by the very person who kept trying to force her company on you? "I was on my way to get my things to take a bath," Muta lied, lowering his arm. "The tubs here don't fit me, so I was planning to go to a _sentou_ in town."

"An excellent idea," said Edeline. "Would you mind if I join you?"

"What?" Muta's eyes narrowed. "What's with all the attention, Captain? First you wink at me, then you kept hovering around last night—no, I don't mean that literally, don't frown at me like that. And now this. Look, lady, if you want someone to be chummy with, go see Baron. He's better company than I am."

"I'm not interested in him, Renaldo Moon," Edeline said, coming closer to him and removing her shades, staring up at him with those unnerving black-slitted, whitish eyes of hers. "I was just hoping I could enjoy the company of a fellow outcast of society before we go on that killing spree Lune wants us to do."

"Outcast? But you're the town hero, you can't be an outcast."

"Well, I'm sorry to say this, but I am. The people are afraid of me, just as they're afraid of you. Don't you see it in their eyes, Renaldo? When you walk down the street the children shy away from you. Even the braver ones, their parents discreetly move them away. The same thing happens to me all the time. At least you don't have to go drinking blood and walking around on steel legs."

"I didn't give you permission to call me by my first name," Muta said reproachfully, his enforced disinterest gone, banished by the strangeness of his conversation partner and the truth behind her words. "You're a vampire, you're supposed to drink blood."

"I know, but still..." There was a wholly uncharacteristic pleading look in Captain Loriel's eyes as she said, "Well? Can I join you, or must I seek the pleasure of someone else's company?"

Muta thought about it. What the heck, it'd been a long time since a sexy tabby came up to him and said she wanted _his_ fat bulk in her vicinity.

"Alright. But you bite me and I'll eat you. It might not make things better, but I'll have a revenge one way or the other."

Edeline smiled and shook her head. "I wouldn't dream of it! Let me just get my things. I'll meet you down in the lobby." She sidled past his girth and continued down the stairs. Her feet taptaptapped on the stone. As she disappeared around a corner, Muta shrugged and continued up the stairs.

------oOo------

The sun rose higher into the sky. Lunch came and went. So did one o'clock, two, and three. Four o'clock rolled around, and Toto encountered Shizuku in the main courtyard, which still bore traces here and there of the partying that had been going on last night. There was no one there now, and the entire fort had a hushed, expectant air about it, from the empty courtyard to the quiet barracks, from the alert cats patrolling the battlements to those busily rechecking the necessities of life and survival in their bunks and equipment rooms.

"_Konnichi wa,_ Toto-san," Shizuku greeted him as he glided to a landing beside her.

"_Konnichi wa, _Shizuku-san. Have you seen Baron anywhere?"

"No. He's probably with Haru."

"That's just it. I've looked everywhere. He's not in our room, and I've already checked Haru's. There's no answer to the door. I even flew past the windows, but the blinds were halfway drawn and I couldn't see anything."

"Hmm. On the roof?"

"No, or I would've seen them immediately."

"The gardens?"

"Not there either."

"Oh? I wonder where they are, then."

"Me too. He's been gone since ten this morning, and since we have a lot to talk about, I'm starting to worry."

"I'm sure he's okay. After all, Toto-san, this might very well be his and Haru's last day together. When Baron gets Louise back Haru's sworn to drop her claim on him. I want to be there when that happens, just in case."

"Oh? Are you coming with us?"

"I'm staying on the ship."

"I didn't know that. But Haru can't give Baron up to the Baroness. She's a crazy homicidal maniac now, from what I've heard."

Shizuku shook her head. "Yeah, but Haru wants to do it that way, and so does Sir Cat."

Toto clacked his beak and blatted, a hideous noise which sounded a lot like a duck getting punched in the stomach while holding a kazoo in its mouth. "Gods, the things people do in the name of love. Thank you, Shizuku-san. I'll go look for him elsewhere." He hopped away from her and then flew off, raising a small whirlwind of dust and making Shizuku grateful that she was wearing culottes instead of the free-flowing skirts she liked.

Shizuku saw him fly off and resumed her walk towards the library. It was a mystery no one would be able to solve, that afternoon or afterwards: just where did Haru and Baron disappear to, that fateful day?

------oOo------

Eight o'clock came round, and the flotilla of Cat Navy ships stood off the brightly-lit piers, ready to hie to the Lonely Isles, and the pirate island in particular.

The docks northeast of the fort were divided in two, one for the use of the fishermen and the civilian population of the town, and the other, fenced-off one for the navy. Four warships and two auxiliary vessels were in the water: the troopships _Matatabi_ and _Conquistador,_ the monitors _Longshallows_ and _Albedo,_ and the supply carriers _Grimalkin_ and _Neko-umi Maru._ The troop carriers and supply vessels were sailing ships, whereas the monitors were powered by diesel engines.

The entire population of the town appeared to have turned out to see the troops off. Certainly that was the message the filled piers and docks of the civilian section conveyed to Shizuku. Cats were waving, and little toms and tabbies were running to and fro, yelling their 'goodbye, see you again' messages with gusto. There were so many cats packed closely together that one of those standing at the end of a jetty got pushed into the water, where he landed with a splash, and the others had to descend the ladder there and fish him out.

Shizuku was standing at the rail of the _Matatabi,_ waving back at them, like the soldiers beside her were doing. She wondered just what the people of New Lorum thought of them, the human interlopers who had caused the ruckus in the town. It wasn't the first time she had speculated about it.

------oOo------

"Now see what you've done!" thundered Phaecis from his throne. "I counted on at least two days more to set up our defenses. You've provoked them into attacking earlier than I expected!"

The Black Cat, who stood diffidently in front of him, nodded. "Yes, I acknowledge my error," she said formally. "But don't despair. I still have my army ready. All you have to do is say the word, and I'll unleash it."

Phaecis put his white-framed head on a paw. "I just hope your contraptions work. It's too late to abandon this hideout now, and I'm not leaving my people behind."

"Well, we can still harry them. It's just a small fleet. The loss of a ship would be a big thing."

"Yes it would. Do you think I should send the ships out to intercept them?"

"No, their escorts would sink you in a minute. They're more vulnerable when they're offloading their troops. That is the time to strike."

"Have them set foot here? The garrison was bad enough, why add to our troubles?"

"Don't worry about it. I've got just the thing for a pesky bunch of self-righteous cats." An evil smile appeared on the Black Cat's face. "You should just thank our spies for being so prompt in reporting events to us."

------oOo------

The deck kept going up and down, up and down, but Seiji's dinner just went down, down as he leaned over the side of the _Matatabi_ and lost it.

Shizuku rubbed his back. They had opted, just like almost everyone else, to stay out on deck: the air was fresher, and a sliver of moon provided just enough light to see by. She had tried to cure his seasickness with her magic, but it just kept coming back, so she had to stop and let him tough it out.

"Okay now?" she asked as his retching subsided.

Seiji, face pale and perspiring in the moonlight, nodded slightly. "A little," he said.

"Here." A glass of water floated itself behind him. She had gotten it from the galley below.

Seiji took it and rinsed his mouth out. "Thanks."

"And take this." Shizuku handed him a small pill. "You'll never guess who gave it to me."

"Who?"

"Cameron. He's downstairs in the galley. Said one of the cooks developed food poisoning and he volunteered to fill in."

"Well, that's fine." Seiji popped the pill in his mouth. "What is this?"

"Anti-nausea drug."

"Oh."

"Are you sure you don't want to lie down? You look positively green."

"No. I'll get sicker if I do that. I'm fine, dear." He patted her shoulder. "You're so good to me."

Shizuku blushed. After all the sniping and teasing the past couple of days, after all their years together, as boyfriend-girlfriend as well as husband and wife, he could still give her such compliments. She was thankful that in his case familiarity didn't breed contempt, but understanding instead.

------oOo------

Haru was frightened. Not of the upcoming fight, not of the terrors of the briny deep they were traversing, but of Muta and the silly smile on his face. He was standing beside her, with his elbows on a bitt and his head cupped in his hands.

"Muta," she whispered, in deference to the cats sleeping around them. "Muta! What is _wrong_ with you? Tell me! I might be able to help!"

All that answered her concerned entreaty was a dreamy, drawn-out sigh.

Haru wished Toto were with them, since he knew the cat well and could divine what was going on. But he wasn't; the practical crow had immediately fastened himself on the lip of the crow's nest—where else would he be, he had rhetorically asked them as the _Matatabi_ shoved off from the pier—and gone to sleep. His friends, who had a vital role to play in the assault, had also chosen to roost high, among the divisions and curtains and spars of the ship's sail arrays. Baron, too, had elected to retire to a cabin, so Haru had to deal with the incomprehensible giant cat all by herself.

"Are you in pain?" she asked, continuing her interrogation.

"Yes."

"Do you want me to call Shizuku-sensei or Cameron or the doctors?"

"No."

"Why?"

"They can't get rid of this pain."

"Then what are you–?" A smug expression appeared on Haru's face. "Oooohhh. I see. Who's the lucky girl?"

Muta reduced his verbal output once more to a sigh, followed by vague mumblings. "Captain Loriel."

"What? You can't be serious!"

"The stars are so beautiful out tonight," Muta waxed lyrical. Except for the moon and the lights of the nearby ships, it was pitch-black, thanks to the clouds that were scudding across the nighttime sky.

Haru decided to play his game. "Is she as lovely as Baron is handsome?" she asked Muta, leaning on the rail herself and putting her own head in her hands.

"Verily. Oh, the curves under that towel..."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Haru gave Muta a sidelong glance. "Baron's such a good kisser."

"Her fangs are so pointy and sharp," Muta mumbled.

"He's so brave and dashing."

"She's so sexy and mysterious."

"His eyes are like limpid pools you could drown in."

"Her eyes are so dead and white, like the color of bad fish at Tsukiji."

"Muta!"

"Oh, yes, how I loved her saying my name."

"Muta!" Louder this time.

"Oh, yes, Edeline, you're so good..." The cat lifted his head to look at her. "What?"

"You're grossing me out."

Muta paused only to put his head back in his hands. "She never said that to me."

"Don't tell me you really have a crush on that vampire."

"So what if she's a vampire? It'd be interesting to have an undead lover."

"If you don't stop this silly moonstruck talk of yours, I'm going to scream and run for Baron. Can't you see what she's done to you? She's bewitched you!"

Muta smiled again, a sight so strange it made Haru feel as if she were looking at a premonition of doom, a vision of the world's ending.

"Yes," the fat cat agreed. "She's bewitched me. I couldn't help it. I picked her up in my arms—" to Haru's surprise he stood and did just that with her, lifting her up as if she were a baby "—and I kissed her." To her everlasting shock, Muta also did that.

She shoved him away, spitting and cursing. "Yuck! You could've at least brushed your teeth! You taste like fried liver and sardines!"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, Haru. I got carried away, I guess," Muta muttered indistinctly, setting her down. He resumed his mooning, which was only fitting considering his name. "Haru-chan, what's a good gift to give a girl?"

"Umm..." the young woman considered, wiping her mouth as she mourned _Oh, no, I've just kissed a cat other than Baron! Can this be considered infidelity?_ The irony of the question didn't escape her as a fleeting image of Machida, smiling and looking his usual handsome self, appeared in her mind.

She became lost in thought for a while. Machida wavered in her mind, and she roamed back to her pre-dating daydreams about them running through a field of daisies and morning-stars. "Flowers. Yeah, flowers. Muta, you've got to give Captain Loriel flowers."

"Really? You're right! Why didn't I think of that?"

_Maybe it's because your brain's turned to mush,_ Haru thought secretly. "Not just any flowers, though. You've got to hide a small cross in them before you give them to her."

If a cat could look perplexed, Muta was it at that moment. He looked down at Haru as if he had been woken from a dream.

"That's not very polite, Haru. Anyway, it doesn't affect her."

"Is she a nice cat, Muta?"

"She seems to be. She never tried to bite me at any time during our stay in the public bath, either."

"Public bath?" One could almost see Haru's ears spring to attention, and her interest perk up like that of a kitten's, who had seen a ball of yarn roll on the floor in front of her. "You went with her to a public bath?"

"Yeah."

"Wasn't it your first date? That's... very unusual. Which bath?"

"Hey, can you blame us? One of us might very well be dead before this same time tomorrow night. The one near the south gate in town, you know, the one with the stars on its _noren._ Why?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

------oOo------

In the captain's chair on board the _Longshallows,_ Edeline Loriel ran her paw under her chin as she mused. What an unexpected find that Renaldo Moon, or Muta, as he preferred to be called nowadays, was! The reports reaching her had been true: he was large, and not really handsome, and held a none-too-flattering perception of the Cat Kingdom and its inhabitants; he was also awkward and too free with expressing his opinions; and his manners were coarse and did not calculate to please. But they never mentioned that he could remain a perfect gentleman even under pressure, or that she would find in him a hidden repository of wit that seemed to surface only when he was put at ease and didn't have to keep showing his grumpy face to the world. She had tested the first by turning her back to him and asking him to give her a massage, then removing the towel she had modestly wrapped around herself. That she had an effect on him was evident by the way his white fur had bristled and shivered; but massage her shoulders he did, as they sunk back in the hot water of the tub in the private room she had procured for them. She also found the way he kept his nervous stream of chatter up _very_ entertaining. Best of all, he made no move on her, as the other toms did. Instead, when he had finished he simply leaned back against the rim of the tub and relaxed, and she had fastened her towel back on and climbed out of the water to give him a massage herself. The second point, of his being a wit, had emerged later, over glasses of chilled wine and a plate of strawberries. After they had drunk an appreciable amount of the liquor Edeline decided to reward his restraint with a little kiss...

What a find! she repeated to herself. The Renaldo Moon everyone feared, the Fish-Eating Monster, was actually quite a nice person! Oh, there was that peccadillo about him using her metal leg as a back-scratcher, but she had cured him quickly of that notion...

A sudden vibration and surging of the seat beneath her caused her to look up and her eyes to refocus. "Report," she snapped.

One of her bridge crew got on the sound-powered telephone and spoke to the engineering section. The tom listened, then looked at her. "A little problem with the engines, as usual, Ma'am."

"Oh. Just tell the Chief to keep everything together until the assault."

"Yes'm." The cat returned to the horn.

The _Longshallows_ was a peculiar boat. Everyone called the heavy, ungainly, shoebox-on-a-raft vessel a 'boat,' even the crew themselves. The first of a never-continued line of coastal defense craft, she was an experiment in extensive automation and advanced technology. Unlike earlier monitors, of which class her present mate the _Albedo_ was one, she had few crew for her size, but the same amount of armament. Her engines, when they were first fitted, were very powerful and sophisticated, the best money could buy, and her systems were state-of-the-art. Lune's father had plenty of funds to spend at the time of her construction, since he wasn't so concerned about social welfare the way his son was.

Even then, though, the new ship had a lot of quirks. At first she had bad seakeeping qualities, causing her early crew to call her the 'Vomitorium.' That fault was rectified only through expensive redesign and testing. Her guns also refused to fire a third of the time, and were a bear to maintain to this day. She also ran aground once and sank in shallow water twice during her trials, because the cats manning her were confused by her complicated ballast and station-keeping controls, which were supposed to keep her stable in rough weather. Her airconditioning system—so essential in a ship with few portholes and ventilators—also had a tendency to conk out, causing many who worked belowdecks to curse to high heaven and swear to get transferred off the bloody jinx incarnate. The only saving graces she had were the fact that despite all of this she was a veteran, having survived skirmishes with pirates and smugglers up and down the Cat Kingdom coast, and the undisputable truth that she was a tough ship. Cannonballs bounced off her steel skin more than once, and her battle casualties were very, very low, for all her being despised.

Captain Loriel watched as her Officer of the Day looked out at the night through a telescope. It was nighttime, of course, but that wasn't much hindrance to cat eyes; the lack of starlight was. If things had been better, all they needed was a little help from coated glass, which gathered more light than usual, and they could see long distances well in the dark.

"Anything, Papazzo?"

"No, ma'am." The old lieutenant sounded disappointed; she knew it was because the crew was itching to have a go at the pirates, ever since they learned that the Cat garrison on the Lonely Isles had been destroyed, and no survivors ever came back.

"Just as well." Loriel knew Phaecis' three sailing ships wouldn't dare mess with the fleet while they were around. They were raiders, not sluggers. One fusillade from either of the two monitors would reduce them to matchsticks. And no one, not even the audacious pirates of the Phaecis Gang, had the temerity to engage in a long-distance shooting match in the dark. It was useless and highly uneconomical. "Keep looking, though. You never know what tricks the Pirate King may try."

"Yes, ma'am." The Lieutenant kept his vigil.


	21. To the Lair of the Pirate King

_Dies irae, dies illa,  
solvet saeculum in favilla,  
teste David cum Sibylla._  
-13th century

_Day of wrath, that dreadful day,  
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,  
as David and the Sybil say._

TO THE LAIR OF THE PIRATE KING

It was not yet sunrise in that faraway world when cat officers began to quietly rouse the soldiers and off-shift sailors. They didn't have much waking to do, as few had been able to catch five winks with all the tension in them. The bleary-eyed spar monkeys dipped buckets in the sea and washed their faces in the cold salt water before going about their business; few of the soldiers joined them in doing so, since dried salt on skin and fur was hard to get rid of without fresh water, and of course they were on rations.

Up in the bridge of the _Matatabi_ the captain, a yellow longhair named Oh'Sesu, pored over charts and maps with Baron, Gabriel and Toto. The commandos and the Cat Business Office agents would be the first to disembark, to be carried by the crow and his pals to their landing point. Close cooperation would be required; most of the birds couldn't see well enough in the pitch-dark to do the earth-hugging flight that would be necessary to avoid early detection by the pirates, so the cats would have to act as their eyes. There were also so few of them that two trips per avian would be required to transport the whole of the special forces.

"I hope you two have got this whole spaghetti mess memorized," said Oh'Sesu as he glanced in turn at Gabriel and Baron. "I can't do it myself, to be honest."

"Done," the old calico said simply.

Baron looked up from the annotated facsimile spread out on the navigation table. "Same here."

"It's almost zero hour for you people. I suggest you get your affairs in order. You've got–" the captain looked at the ship's chronometer, a round, white-backed, silver-gilded affair with red-lit hands "–an hour."

Baron straightened up and fixed his bow tie. He was in his brown-fronted waistcoat and gray trousers, although he would soon change. "I suppose you're right. See you later, Swordmaster." He nodded to excuse himself and strode out of the bridge through the open hatch in the rear.

------oOo------

"Haru? Sorry, it's time to wake up," the Cat said apologetically as he knelt down beside her on the deck, where she had been lying against a siding along with Muta, her arm thrown around the sleeping fat cat's girth in a friendly display of narcoleptic affection.

Haru yawned. "Oh, Mom, just five minutes more," she mumbled lackadaisically as she got to her feet.

"You'd better get ready," he cautioned her. "We're leaving in an hour."

Rubbing her eyes, the young lady nodded and said, "Ah, Baron, you've got those armored pants of mine in your carpetbag, remember?"

"Oh, quite right. Here, follow me. Let's get them." He led her to the nearby door that went downstairs to the cabins.

Muta heard the trudge of Haru's boots on the metal steps and opened his eyes. He sat up and looked to his right, to where the darkness still hid a figure sitting behind a ventilator horn.

Shizuku peeked out from her concealment at his surreptitious wave. She was wearing a long black cloak with a hood, given to her by Baron some hours earlier, while everyone else was in the middle of catnapping. "I thought you'd really fallen asleep," she whispered oh-so-quietly as she removed her head covering. Her face was composed but somewhat sad.

"Of course not. D'you think I fooled Haru?"

"Neko-kun, you fooled me. I think it's safe to say you hoodwinked her as well."

Muta grunted as he stood up. "How's Seiji?"

"I made him sleep in our cabin. He's alright."

"Good. Come on, let's follow Baron." They headed for the same hatch that Baron and Haru had used. For all his considerable bulk the fat cat made less noise than Shizuku did with her shoes as they descended the stairs.

------oOo------

The Cat rummaged around in his carpetbag, which was on his bunk. "I can't seem to–ah, here it is." He produced the folded garment and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Haru leaned forward and gave Baron a peck on the cheek. "Don't tell me you're bringing that with you," said she as he hefted the bag off the bed.

"I am."

"But why? You know Toto hates carrying heavy things."

"I need it with me."

"Oh really?" Haru's fine brows raised themselves. "Why? What's inside that?"

"I'm not telling you."

"I already peeked, so you don't have anything to hide from me," she confessed, somewhat arrogantly. "It's that cameo and portrait of Louise, isn't it?"

The suddenly cross expression that appeared on Baron's face was something Haru had wished never to be aimed at her. "Little girl, you've just committed a serious error in judgment. Looking inside my bag once was forgivable. Now, you're going to have to pay."

All of a sudden he walked up to Haru and imprisoned her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she chuckled. "I didn't mean to pry—ow! Baron, you're hurting me!" In pain, she dropped the pants she was holding to the floor.

The light in the Cat's eyes was anything but friendly as he relaxed the pressure of his arms and looked at Haru. He abruptly kissed her, and, delighted as she was, she began to feel anxious.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked as she pushed him back. The Cat didn't answer her; instead he sought her mouth again and claimed it. As the liplock continued, Haru felt her knees—and insides—turning into jelly.

"I-I don't think this is the right time–" she began tremulously, breaking off from him.

Baron stopped and looked at her intently. "Haru, please. Let's just savor this moment, shall we?" In the air hung the unspoken _We might not have this chance again._

Looking up at him, she knew instinctively that he was asking for her permission. For what, she didn't know exactly, but what he was doing so far wasn't really objectionable to her, only coming at a strange time, and whatever he was asking permission for was probably what she wanted anyway, wasn't it?

"I..." Haru lowered her gaze and nodded meekly. She trusted Baron.

The moment she finished the gesture Baron began an amorous assault on her, holding her tight against him as he kissed her ardently. Haru put her arms around him and began to respond to his advances. The sensual fire began to run through her veins, and somehow she was only mildly surprised when his kisses began to roam over her cheeks, her forehead, her closed eyelids, her ears...

The part of her that still thought made Haru attempt to stop him. "Baron, wait, I thought we weren't–"

"Haru," his husky, gravelly voice said, "you're driving me crazy. I can't stop." His attentions suddenly wandered down to her neck, and Haru moaned and closed her eyes as she felt the sweet stings of his playful nipping on her throat. Helpless as she was in the Cat's grip and the deluge of emotions surging through her, she still wondered with alarm whether he was going to do what she thought he was going to do.

With the warmth of his kisses still raining down on her now-heated skin, she felt him undo the top button of her blouse, and it confirmed her worst desires. A thrill ran down her spine.

"Nooo..." She made a last, half-hearted attempt to push him away, to get him to stop by beating on his chest. The feline nobleman was oblivious to her actions, seemingly consumed by the act of ravishing her.

"Baron, please..." she pleaded, not knowing if the appeal from her was for him to cease and desist, or continue.

The Cat kissed the hollow of her neck, and Haru gasped as he raised her arms up high. She felt her breasts strain against her bra, and felt incredibly, sexily, embarrassingly vulnerable. _Oh, my,_ she thought. _Is this it? Is he going to make love to me now?_ Was he about to rip her shirt off, like in those old period romance novels? She swallowed as he continued to smother her with kisses.

Baron forced her back with his ardor, back into the wooden bulkhead behind them. Haru hit the wood with an audible thump, and something cold and metallic encircled her wrists.

_Click-click._

The sound made her open her eyes. "W-wha–?"

The Cat looked at her and kissed her. "I'm sorry." Quickly he knelt down and busied himself doing something.

For one dazed moment Haru thought he was stooping to unbutton her blouse or, shockingly, pants, but she looked up and saw what was restraining her hands. Baron had shackled her to two iron fetters dangling from a short chain hanging from one of the cabin's wooden beams.

The Cat straightened up, and the serious expression on his face made Haru discard whatever notions she had of him indulging himself in some fairy-tale bondage using her. He had just locked a chain across her waist. It was fastened by a padlock to a staple in the wall.

Haru looked at him in confusion. "Baron?"

"Forgive me for using such base trickery, Haru," he said as he stepped away. "It's for your own good."

"W-what is? What's the meaning of this?"

Still gazing at her, the Cat put a hand on her cheek. She jerked her head away. "You're not coming with me to the Isles. This is as far as you go." He put his hand down and called. "Muta! Shizuku!"

The door opened to admit the two. Shizuku looked at Haru ruefully, begging for forgiveness with her eyes. Even Muta appeared to be sorry at the unfolding events.

"Come on, we have less than an hour to prepare," the Cat told his colleague, ignoring Haru's dumbfounded expression. "You didn't blacken up?"

"Course not," said Muta. "You think I want to go through all the trouble you did when you impersonated King Lune?"

Baron sighed. "Oh, very well. I knew I couldn't count on you for that." He went back to his carpetbag and produced a thick folded black pile of cloth, giving it to his friend. "You can wear this when we land on shore."

They continued to talk, heedless of Haru, and her mortification and anger built up until she could no longer contain them.

"Excuse me," she shouted, "but I want an explanation! Now!"

Baron looked at her. "I deceived you. You're to stay here until we return. Shizuku will keep you company."

"And I suppose all that sword practice was to humor me too," she snapped, pulling at her manacles. "You intended to do this to me all along."

"Not really, but she convinced me my first stance on this matter was the correct one." Baron inclined his head in Shizuku's direction.

"Sensei?"

Shizuku nodded.

"How could you?" cried Haru. She felt her whole world was crumbling about her. "What right did you have?"

"I just want to see you safe," the elder woman explained. "You'll be the death of him if you come along. He can't worry about you and Louise at the same time."

"How do you know that? Baron, please, you can't do this to me now, not after all we've been through!" The corners of Haru's mouth started to quiver.

"I can and I will. You're too dear to me to expose to danger, Haru."

Haru drew in a deep breath. Shizuku's betrayal and the seeming glibness and disinterest and _arrogance_ of the Cat's tone was all too much for her. "Out!" she screamed with all her might. "Get out! I want to talk to His Lordship the High Cat! Alone!"

Muta and Shizuku looked at the Baron, who nodded. They silently filed out the door, and he turned her furious way. "Well?"

"This is a joke, isn't it?" she asked, trying to calm herself by taking in deep breaths and releasing them slowly. "You're going to free me now?" When the Cat continued to look upon her without moving, she closed her eyes. "Baron, all I wanted was to return the favor you gave me," she whispered brokenly. "All I wanted was to be by your side when you needed me. Instead, I get this... Why does this always happen to me?"

"Haru, I know you don't understand what I'm doing–"

"No, I know what you're doing. It's for my own good. You want to concentrate on the mission. I'm just a want-to-be deadweight who'll be in the way."

Baron removed his top hat and turned it round and round in his hands. "I'm sorry." His tone, in her ears, belied any indication of it. "If this were anything less dangerous I'd have you along. But I won't be the one to answer to your mother and friends if anything happens to you. That's final."

Haru looked up at him, and to the Cat it seemed that the light had gone out of her eyes. "At least you could set me free," she suggested, her voice flat and weary. "This is so embarrassing."

Shaking his head, Baron approached her. "I can't do that. I know you too well. Shizuku will release you when it's too late for you to try and follow us. Haru... Haru," he repeated when she averted her gaze from him. "For what it's worth, little of my passion was feigned a while ago, and all my feelings _are_ with you on this matter, even if my thoughts aren't. Farewell." Baron Humbert von Jikkingen smiled sadly at her—a sight so heartbreaking Haru wanted to cry and kiss him at the same time—took his carpetbag up, and walked quietly out the door.

------oOo------

After he had closed the entrance behind him, Baron heard a feminine clearing of the throat and found Shizuku standing before him, displaying an inquiring countenance on her concerned face. He heaved a great sigh.

"She'll never forgive me now, Shizuku-chan," he said quietly. The hurt in his voice wrung Shizuku's heart. "What at a cad she must think I am, lying to her and making fake love to her like that. Please take good care of her."

The magician nodded. "Yes. For you, Sir Cat, and what you can't share now, I will."

"Breaking her spirit was _not_ the way I wanted to end things," Baron admitted. "If I don't come back..." The Cat left the sentence unfinished as he replaced his top hat on his head and busied himself with his grooming and appearance.

_Ever the dapper gentleman he must be, _Shizuku thought, watching as he secured his top hat with the elastic hat-securer inside its brim, watching as he preened and fixed his clothing. _Ever the dapper gentleman he must be, even if his heart must be bleeding inside._ "Don't talk like that. You'll come back. You always do. You told me that a long time ago, remember?"

"That was a platitude for an uncertain teenager, Shizuku. You're all grown up now, and you know better than to trust inanities like that. There's a first time for everything. May I use your room? I can't change with Haru in there."

"Of course. Just don't wake Seiji." Shizuku paused. "Or, if you do, tell him I'm here."

"Yes." To her surprise Baron gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye for now, Shizuku-chan, Tsukishima no more."

The Cat's sometime chronicler watched him walk down the corridor and, with the blush dying on her cheeks, opened the door into the improvised cell and let herself in.

------oOo------

"Haru-chan, will you please stop that already!"

More than an hour had passed, and Shizuku was thoroughly tired of hearing her companion's mournful, singsong chanting of such things as "I should've never trusted a cat," "Baron, he left me, he left me," "My friends aren't really my friends, they're liars and deceivers," and other agonizingly miserable stuff. She really wanted to comfort her, to ask for understanding, if not forgiveness, but knew her speech would only be met by the blank wall Haru had been using against her. Despite the younger woman's malignant hostility, however, she had tried to make her comfortable by giving her a chair to sit on and lengthening her braces enough with magic so she could rest her feet.

Her shout made Haru look up at her. Then she went back to her keening and singing.

"Why should sensei care?" she sang. "She's a selfish person who only thinks of what she wants."

Shizuku frowned in her seat.

"If she loved Baron as much as I did, she wouldn't have left him to face danger alone," Haru continued.

The frown turned into an open glare.

"What does it matter if he doesn't come back, as long as I'm safe heeeree!"

"That's enough!" Shizuku shot up and stamped her foot. "I don't like this any more than you do!"

"I, I, I," Haru chanted. "It's always 'I'. It has to be 'I'."

"Would you like me to make you part of the wall behind you?" threatened Shizuku.

The young lady in the restraints bared her teeth. "Go ahead! I'm of no use sitting here anyway! Maybe when Baron gets back he'll like the new Art Deco painting gracing his cabin! You could call it 'Haru's Blood and Guts'!" No, no, wait, you can call it 'Shizuku's Masterpiece'! Then I'll stop being a burden to everyone! No one will have to waste saliva arguing with me! I won't have to see your ugly, self-centered faces any more, and everybody will be happy all around!"

The chair creaked alarmingly below her, and Haru felt herself rise into the air for a few inches. She recovered from the initial surprise and defiantly faced the woman whom, until an hour or so ago, she had considered her friend.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Come on, sensei! Make me a part of the wall!" The chair moved forward, and as the chain around her waist bit into her abdomen, Haru closed her eyes.

There was a clinking sound. The young woman felt her wrists freed and the chain slacken.

"It's been two hours now," Shizuku said. Her voice was even but her eyes flashed. "You're free to go. And because I know how much you care for Sir Cat, I'm going to let the things you said slide."

The chair landed back on the floor. Haru stood up and rubbed her wrists, grimacing as pins and needles started to invade her hands and upper arms. If Shizuku thought she was going to forgive her for what she'd done and simply walk out of the room with her tail between her legs, she had another thing coming.

Haru walked up to the elder woman and slapped her.

"You had no right," she said evenly as Shizuku put a hand to her cheek. "If you had any love for someone whom you claim is partly a creation of yours, instead of sitting here safe you'd be with him right now, sharing his perils and keeping him from harm." She balled the hand she had used to slap the elder woman. "I'm sorry, sensei. I guess I know what kind of a coward you are, now you've shown your true colors.." She spun on her heel and exited the room.

------oOo------

"Please, Sturmvogel. You've got to take me to the island." Haru clutched at the feathered legs of the gigantic osprey, who loomed large in the twilit darkness on board _Matatabi's_ deck.

The raptor looked down at her out of fierce yellow eyes ringed in black. He was, like Toto, an animated grotesque, hailing from a small college in North Wales, where he had been transplanted in the late 1800s from his native Nuremberg. He was nearly twice the size of a normal, live specimen.

"I cannot, Miss Yoshioka," he replied in his harsh, whistle-accented voice. "Toto will be very angry with me if I do that."

"But you're a big bird of prey. Why're you scared of a mere crow?"

"He is my friend. And I am a bird of my word." The osprey cocked his head at her and blinked.

Haru sighed. Trust Baron to leave no stone unturned in his quest to keep her out of the way. All the avians were against her, because evidently the Cat had told Toto, and Toto had spread the word... He was long gone by now, right smack in the middle of his quest for Louise, and she was being left behind like an unwanted pile of laundry.

"It's so unfair," she moped as she started to turn away from him.

"Pardon, Miss Yoshioka," she heard the huge bird behind her say. "I am no blind follower as well. Tell me why my friend the crow has ordered us not to carry you at all."

A spark of hope ignited in the depths of Haru's charred heart, and she related her tale to him. As she told her story, the osprey would sometimes cock his head at her words, or mutter something Haru was sure was an imprecation. When her narrative ended he stamped a clawed foot down on the wooden deck.

"Base trickery it is," he trilled angrily, spreading his wings in what Haru supposed was a gesture of indignation. "That was not very nice of the nobleman. Not very noble, he was."

Haru clasped her hands together and her eyes lit up. "You'll take me to the Isles, then?"

The osprey nodded as he folded his wings, and the ingénue's heart leapt for joy. _But why do you still want to follow him, when he dumped you so ignominiously?_ asked a small, plaintive voice in her heart.

Haru had only one answer. _Because I love him!_

------oOo------

"Oh, dear," Shizuku muttered as she helped her ill husband up the steps. "You sure you want to go up on deck?"

"Yeah. Darn this—urk!" Seiji covered his mouth with a hand. His eyes closed and opened as he strained, but he shook his head immediately. "Looks like my stomach's emptied itself."

They came to the above-deck exit just as an irate shout sounded through the air. "Don't let him take off!"

Shizuku looked out at the vaguely-lit deck. The sun was already coming up behind the ship's stern. "What–?"

In the hazy half-light of the coming dawn she saw a large bird with white head and breast and brown body and tail being held on deck by piles of cat soldiers diving at its feet. The raptor screeched and beat its wings furiously.

"Let me go!" it whistle-roared. "I do not want to hurt any of you!"

Sudden movement in the curtains of the sail array above and in front of her caused Shizuku to look up. It was Toto, and he was hopping mad. Literally.

"You Teutonic birdbrain!" he shouted. "Baron's keeping her here for her own safety! What you're doing is delivering her to her death! Don't you understand, Sturmvogel?"

"Good will like hers must not be denied!" insisted the large bird Toto called Stumvogel. "It was very underhanded of Baron to do what he did! You too, my friend!"

The bird of prey got one foot free. He started lunging at the soldiers with his wickedly hooked beak, and they quailed and scattered.

Only then did Shizuku realize that there was someone on the raptor's back. Haru, naturally. Who else would be trying to escape the confines of the ship? She groaned inwardly and asked the absent Sir Cat's forgiveness for being so lax in her vigilance.

Sturmvogel carefully plucked the cats off his other appendage with his free foot. He looked around to be sure he wasn't going to blow anyone off the deck, then conjured up a massive gale by flapping his wings and rose slowly into the sky, large and portentous. As he climbed heavenwards, the beings on the _Matatabi_ saw two cats still hanging on to his toes. With much relief everybody saw him pluck and deposit them on his back as he flew away.

"Stop!" Toto called vainly after him. "You don't know what you're doing! Skyshadow, Mariana, go after him!"

"We will not," said a voice behind Shizuku and Seiji. They turned and saw two of Toto's contingent, one a raven bigger than the Cat Business Office grotesque and the other a red-tailed hawk, sitting on the deck with their wings folded and their feet planted firmly on the ground. "We happen to agree with him. And if you try and rouse the others, rest assured we will prevent them from interfering as well."

Toto clacked his beak in frustration and prepared to go after the recreant himself. As he was about to take off, Shizuku yelled his name.

"I'll help you!" she called up to him. The bird flew down to her and let her clamber onto his back.

As she arranged herself into a comfortable sitting position astride him, Shizuku felt something move behind her. "Seiji? Don't, it's dangerous."

"I'm coming with you, Shicchan, and you can't stop me."

There was no time to argue. Shizuku nodded to him and told the crow they were ready. He took off into the lightening sky after his errant colleague.

------oOo------

Oh'Sesu watched from the bridge as the black bird flew off. His tail twitched in irritation. Gods, these humans. You could never relax when they were around. It was a good thing Lune was on the _Conquistador,_ or heads would be rolling just about now. But why should he blame any of them? These were his and Yuki's guests doing the hell-raising anyway. Turning to his helmsman, he ordered him to set the appropriate course and told the assault coordinator that the first wave should resume its preparations for launch.

------oOo------

"Oh, so that's why you were so set on getting away," yelled Sergeant Jarashi over the noise of the wind.

"Hope yah don't mind us tagging along," Corporal Fisher commented. Haru could just see the ridiculous Cheshire Cat's grin on his face.

"Not really, but I was really hoping I could be alone," she hollered. She didn't want to turn around; the windblast was so strong she felt she'd sprain her neck if she did. "You were too stupid to let go and got included by default."

"Hey, I'm afraid of heights," Fisher shot back.

"I kinda like the idea of going out for love and honor," Jarashi shouted. "It sounds so romantic. My mother used to tell me stories like that when I was little."

"Yeah, well, yah should've told your mama to include our kit," Fisher commented. "We're as naked as jaybirds."

"Not me. I got my derringers handy. You want one?"

"Sure!"

Jarashi carefully plucked one silver-plated four-barrel from his waistband and handed it to him. "Don't lose it," he warned, "or I'm going to take your next six paychecks as payment."

They flew on for several minutes above the turbulent sea. Then Fisher tapped his superior's back. "Hey, we've got company!"

Sturmvogel turned his massive head around. "Toto? Impossible! I can fly much faster than he can!"

Haru risked a look. "Yeah, but it seems he's got help. Magical help."

"Oh, no. I'll never lose to a crow! Hold on, you three!" Haru and the cats held on for dear life as the osprey folded his kinked wings into an M and went into a steep dive. They all screamed.

------oOo------

On board Toto, Shizuku frowned as she watched the dot that was Sturmvogel plummet towards the forbidding water.

"They're going to hit!" she shouted.

"No they're not! He's too good a flyer for that!" Toto shortened his own wings and followed them down. Shizuku's heart leapt into her throat. Seiji was glad he didn't have anything left in his stomach to throw up any more.

------oOo------

Sturmvogel leveled out bare feet above the swells, so close that Haru wanted to reach out and skim her hand in them.

"Hey, buddy," Fisher called, his stomach still having trouble centering itself under his esophagus, "what's the reason for the elevator ride?"

"I am not about to reveal our presence to the sea robbers by flying high. Look, can you see that cloud bank in front of us?"

"Yes," Haru answered.

"That's where their hideout is. The clouds will burn off by the time the assault is scheduled to start, but for now they will hide us from their sight."

"Haru!"

The call made her automatically look to the left. She felt as if the slipstream were trying to wrench her head from her shoulders. There was Toto, coming up alongside Sturmvogel, skimming the water just as low, just as fast. On his back sat Shizuku and Seiji, seemingly unperturbed by the terrific windblast they must be experiencing, judging by their upright posture and the coolness of the expressions on their faces. Their hair was whipping and the edges of Shizuku's black cloak were blowing back and lashing against Seiji's legs. Underneath the wrapping she turned out to be dressed in a long-sleeved red sweater, with the collar of the white blouse underneath poking out through the neck hole, and a short pleated yellow skirt and red pumps, while her spouse was in a thin white shirt and loose jeans and rubber shoes, which clearly showed that they were both caught unprepared by this turn of events. The scary expression on Shizuku's face, though, showed she was determined to rectify it. Her resemblance to a black-caped witch—riding on a crow, a bird of folklore and ill-omen, no less—was not lost on Haru.

"Sensei!"

"Stop this madness now! Turn back!" The elder woman's mouth didn't move, but everyone heard her stern voice.

"Or you'll what?" Somehow, Haru knew she would be heard over the rush of the gale. "Kill me? I've come this far, Shizuku." No sign of respect this time. Just plain 'Shizuku'. "Let me go!"

"I can't do that. I promised Baron." The elder woman raised a hand, palm towards her, and Haru despairingly wondered if there wasn't anything she could do to stop her.

The sudden _crack_ that came from behind her almost made her lose her seat on Sturmvogel.

"Sergeant Jarashi! Don't!"

Toto tumbled and rolled, and the terrified Haru thought the cat had hit him. Down went Seiji and Shizuku, falling into the water like dolls flung by a giant's uncaring hand.

------oOo------

"Ah! _Ojou-san! Seiji-kun!_" yelled the crow as the couple hit the drink, sending vast columns of spray fountaining up into the air.

It was a case of too low, too late for Toto to save his passengers. He had miraculously avoided the bullet fired at him, but the speed at which he had been traveling was great, and his height low, so it took him some time to slow down, and still more to locate the two in the rolling sea; he hoped both of the humans were all right.

He winged himself over to them, slowing as he approached to a near-stop that was not at all to his liking, nor his forte. "Shizuku! Are you okay?"

Shizuku blinked the stinging from her eyes and spluttered in the windchill induced by his downdraft. "I'm fine! But Seiji's been knocked out!" She was treading water and holding on to her unconscious husband, keeping him afloat. As she looked at the back of his lolling head, she wished once more that she could somehow find it within her to hurt Haru.

"Get out of the water! I can't pick you up from there, or my feathers might get wet!"

The magic came easily to her, anxious as she was about her husband's safety. She floated out of the swells like a pale-skinned, black-wreathed lamia, bearing Seiji's sagging body in her arms, and placed herself astride Toto's back. She draped his cold frame across her front like a limp sack of potatoes. A much-abused limp sack of potatoes, whom she loved dearly.

"What now, Toto-san?" asked she, still trembling with cold and emotion as she stared at the emptiness of the dawning maritime sky. "I can't see them anymore."

"That's alright. I know where he's heading. Give me a boost, like you did before, and we'll catch up to them in no time."

Shizuku looked down at her husband, silently leaning against her. She had warned him not to come along, and now, because of Haru's insistent willfulness and impetuousness, he had been hurt again. She set her mouth in a grim line and ground her teeth. It was time to take the measure of Sir Cat's annoying little lover girl. Seiji appeared safe enough for the moment; she would deal with him later, when they were back on terra firma.

"Take me to them, _karasu_-san. I will make you fly faster than the North Wind."

Within a minute her anger had Toto speeding through the sky like a feathered bullet, flying faster than he ever had in his life. In fact, it was the fastest he had ever flown in level flight.


	22. The Battle Commences

THE BATTLE COMMENCES

Toto burst through the clouds, into the watery sunlight that colored the sky above and the land and water below. He extended his wings and used his tail and his primary flight feathers to start slowing down. "There's the valley, Shizuku."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Hurry, we've got to land so I can take care of Seiji!"

"We must be careful. That was where I lost my friends."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Toto."

"Never mind about that. They knew what could happen to them someday. What we should do is not waste what they gave." The crow began a cautious descent to the island below.

------oOo------

If one were to look at the pirate island (no one ever bothered to name it, even in Cat Kingdom surveys done long, long ago), it was roughly ovoid in shape, with the long axis running northwest-southeast. It had an appreciable portion in the center occupied by a massive mountain, a long-dead volcano whose lava tubes had collapsed and emptied, making it a convenient place for the Pirate King to set up shop. The pelagic climate and local topography and current patterns caused it to be wreathed in fog for much of the year, and numerous eroded mountaintops and the remnants of long-ago reefs were scattered throughout the immediate area, forming a hazard to navigation. The two main land entrances of the pirate lair faced east and north-east, while the valley Haru and Shizuku had flown to was at the other side of the mountain. There was a secret door there, as Shoukichi had indicated on his map.

Phaecis and his gang had managed to settle in this place only with the help of the Black Cat, who brought with her the technical expertise and esoteric equipment of the Doctor. The Baroness' amalgam with him was not only a brilliant mechanician and scientist who was totally, insanely jealous of the Baron and his seeming perfection, she was also now just as skilled as her former fiancée in subterfuge and martial skills.

The Black Cat peered through a telescope from an outpost near the peak of the mountain. The cold sea wind blew her short blond hair back as she surveyed the distant shapes of the Cat Kingdom flotilla. Behind her stood Phaecis, awaiting his turn at the telescope.

"How soon do you think they'll get here?"

"Two, perhaps three hours. It will take them some time to disembark and reconstitute."

She stepped aside and let the Pirate King have a look. The Husky laughed grimly.

"You know, I wish I could see the look on King Lune's face when his ships start blowing up."

The being once known as Louise chuckled. "So do I. So do I. We trained the crews well; let's see if they were worth our effort."

------oOo------

"So you mean to tell me all the humans are now on that island?" the Cat King asked, angrily confronting his female aide. They were in the _Conquistador's_ dimly-lit bridge, where he was getting into his resplendent silver armor with the help of an orderly.

"Y-yes, sir, it appears that way."

Lune groaned. "Yuki will have my head when she hears about this! Why weren't they stopped?"

"I'm not sure, s-sir."

"I'm sick and tired of hearing that! Have Captain Oh'Sesu brought to me! I want some answers!"

------oOo------

"Oh, no. Is this who I think it is?"

"Yes, Shizuku. Or what's left of him."

The crow and the lady stared at the shattered remains of the osprey. They had been sneaking through the valley using magic and avian smarts when they spotted a pile of rocks of a different color—but of suspiciously familiar shape—near a stand of trees and went to investigate.

"Why is he a pile of stone, Toto?"

"Because that's what happens when beings like us die. We revert." He looked around. "He must've crashed, to end up like this. I wonder where Haru and those cats are."

Shizuku also surveyed the area. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"So do I. Look, let's move into those trees, and you take care of Seiji. I'll do a little searching while you're busy."

"Okay."

The two hid themselves in the little wood, and Shizuku carefully lifted Seiji off Toto's back and laid him on the ground. The crow then hopped away, first returning to Sturmvogel's remains, then moving towards the valley walls as he investigated the area.

Shizuku turned her attention from the crow to her husband and closed her eyes, concentrating. She had already dried herself and him using magic. All that was left to do was assess his injury and wake him up.

"Ungh. Ow. What happened?"

"Oh, Seiji, thank Heaven you're alright," Shizuku breathed, lifting him up gently and embracing him. "How do you feel?"

Seiji looked at her through squinted eyes. "Will you tell those elephants upstairs to take their boots off?"

Shizuku laughed softly. It was the same thing he said every time the tenants of the apartment above theirs in the _danchi_ were noisy. "Well, your brain seems to be working fine. How about your body?"

"I'm fine, Shizuku. I just need a little rest."

"Well, we can't have that." She narrated the recent happenings. "We're on the island now, and the bird we were chasing—there he is, look."

Seiji looked. "How horrible! What happened? Where are Haru and the cats who were on him?"

"We don't know. Toto's still looking around, trying to find that out."

------oOo------

Several minutes later the crow returned, bearing bad news.

"I found two bullets near Sturmvogel's body," he reported, opening his beak and letting a dark metal ball fall to the soil. "I also found a trail of blood nearby."

"Haru's?" Shizuku asked immediately, her face grim. "Or the cats'?"

"I can't tell. There were signs of a struggle, and..." Toto's voice trailed off into silence.

"And what?" Seiji prompted.

"I... don't know. I don't know what it is. I found something. You might be able to figure it out." He sounded disturbed.

Shizuku looked at her husband, who was sitting leaning against a tree trunk. "Are you okay now? Can we leave?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

They left the safety of the stand of trees and went to where Toto led them.

"Here. Look at this."

Shizuku's eyebrows rose. "It's a circle of crushed stone."

Toto pointed with his beak. "And there's another. And over there, too. And there are several more leading up the valley."

Seiji tried to picture the arrangement of the circles in his mind. Trace a line through them, and they sat to the left and right of it, alternately. "What do you suppose they are?"

"I don't know. I'm baffled."

"Well, they look like footprints to me."

"What? But they're so big! What could've made footprints like that?"

The writer's eyes followed the trail of circles up the valley. "Like I said, I've got a bad feeling about this."

------oOo------

Not an hour had passed, and Lune had mastered himself and was quietly but firmly upbraiding Captain Oh'Sesu for his loss of control of the situation on board his ship, when a bright flash traveled across the bridge windows and a loud, sustained roar made itself heard.

The radio operator cat to their left ran to the windows and leaned out as sirens began to sound. "It's the _Grimalkin!_ She's under fire!"

Lune ran to the windows and also leaned out. There was the supply ship, now smoking and listing, with a great gash in her side. "By whom? I don't see anything!" He began to scan the waters. "Mines?"

"Hardly likely, your Highness," said Oh-Sesu, who had come to stand behind the King. "The waters around here are too turbulent and too deep. Why waste mines when there are so many seamounts and shoals around?"

"Then what got her?" The Cat King pulled his head back in. "Are we in Battle Stations? Good! Tell the lookouts to redouble their watch!"

------oOo------

"Hot doggie!" yelled the cat manning the blinker light as he decoded the message coming from the _Conquistador._ "We're going to see some action now!" He waited for the message to finish, then scribbled it down on a notepad before rushing from his station just outside the _Longshallows'_ bridge.

"Captain! Captain!" he yelled as he entered. "King Lune wants us to–"

Captain Loriel raised a hand, and with her eyes indicated that the Officer of the Day should _address_ the new seaman later about being overenthusiastic. "I saw it. He wants us to turn and help the _Grimalkin._" The young cat's face fell. "Well, don't look so surprised. I can read our code as well as you. Tell them we're complying. Carry on." The crestfallen sailor skulked back outside. The mini-fleet was maintaining radio silence for security's sake.

"Okay, everyone, look sharp. I want any swimmers pulled from the water and the crew of the _Grimalkin_ taken off if it becomes necessary," Loriel informed her on-shift bridge crew.

The dark-grey Scottish Fold tabby Kagaccha, her present OD, turned. "But Ma'am, we don't have a lot of room on board for survivors."

"Then stuff them on the decks," the vampiric cat snapped. "Tell everyone to keep a sharp eye out for things under the water." It was a weakness of the _Longshallows_ no one had ever bothered to fix: she had no way of detecting subsurface threats.

------oOo------

The silence of the vale as they traversed it only heightened Shizuku's creeped-out feeling. There were no sounds at all: no birds chirping, no animals making noises. There was only a vague moaning drifting on the wind; it seemed to come from somewhere far up on the mountain itself. She and Seiji were following the trail of circles and so far they had come up to a dead end.

"So they end here," Seiji whispered, looking up at the sheer rock face in front of him. "Shizuku, how far away is that secret entrance?"

"I don't know, I didn't memorize the map. We'll have to wait for Toto to return." The crow had flown off an hour earlier, saying he was going to see if Haru and her companions were further up the valley.

They sat down against the rock face, and the man turned to his wife. "What's the matter?"

"What're you talking about?"

"The expression on your face. Come on, Shizuku, tell me what's bothering you."

"Oh." Shizuku took on a dour look. "I blame Haru for you getting knocked out, and I really don't see why we're risking our necks pursuing her. She wants to be with Baron, fine. But look at what's happened because of her! Sturmvogel's dead, and we're stuck in this terrible place..." She hugged herself and started to tremble. "If this is a fairy tale, I don't want to be in it any more. I want to go home."

"You can't blame her for acting the way she's been acting," Seiji said huffily. "If I were in there—" he pointed to the mountain "—wouldn't you want to join ol' heroic me in fighting against the evil Minamoto-sensei?" The mention of a dreaded high-school teacher of theirs made Shizuku smile, albeit briefly. "But to tell you the truth, if you hadn't butted in and convinced Baron that she was safer aboard the ship, none of this would ever have happened."

"What? I–oh, that's rich." Shizuku turned an angry countenance on her spouse. "Go ahead, blame me. Everything's my fault. It's also my fault she decided to go and hijack one of the birds! When we get back home, I'm going to have _you_ explain to her mother why she's dead."

"Oh, for crying out loud! She's not dead yet! If this is a fairy tale, she and Baron are bound to survive! They're the good guys, right? Good guys always win! I can't believe you'd even think that of her! You're–Shizuku?"

"I just wanted to make sure no harm would come to her," she said, staring blankly into space, a quiet joylessness in her voice. "If she dies Baron will never forgive himself, I'm sure of it. We'd be to blame too, Seiji, don't you realize that? I can't have her death on my conscience."

"So you've been thinking of yourself all along, have you?" Seiji watched as Shizuku visibly flinched at his words. "Shicchan," he continued in a kinder tone, "you can't direct other people's lives the way you direct the characters in your books. You have to let them live and learn, make their own mistakes. Even if they prove fatal."

"I can't do that! What about 'we humans should stick together in a place like this,' eh?"

"Don't you use my words against me. What the heck do you think we're doing now, huh? We're trying to get Haru back, save her from herself." Seiji frowned. "Did you hear something?"

"No."

All of a sudden the rock face behind them rumbled.

"Whoa! I don't like this," Seiji said. "Come on, let's get out of here."

They scrambled for cover behind a large boulder several meters away. The rumbling continued, and as they watched, the rock face slowly split open and a massive four-armed, two-legged contraption about eight meters tall stepped out. It looked like a creature from an insane tinker's nightmare, a mechanical Shiva with fat-trunked legs and cannons for arms. When it had cleared the door—the couple saw what they had been leaning against for what it really was now—another monstrosity emerged from the space within and made a saluting motion with one of its arms.

Seiji had to work his jaw muscles to make them move. They insisted on letting his jaw hang open. "Oh, wife of mine?"

"Yeah?" Shizuku knelt gawking beside him.

"If this were your fairy story about Baron, would you include mechanical monstrosities in it?"

"I don't think so," replied Shizuku unsteadily, lifting her black cloak from the ground and placing its end in her lap. "That sounds so hokey to me nowadays."

They watched the two robots turn and slowly make their way down the valley, where they had come from, stepping on the talus and scree and leaving circular imprints in the rubble after them. "I think King Lune's in big trouble," said Seiji as he listened to the crunching and pinging sounds coming from their feet. "Big, big trouble."

------oOo------

The two pirate dogs, one a comically bizarre-looking mangy cross between a Shih Tzu and a Chihuahua and the other a handsome, pure-bred black Boxer, threw their prisoner onto the floor in front of the Black Cat. There was a muffled cry of pain as a face met the volcanic rock. Shackles prevented arms from breaking the fall, and legs were hobbled by a short length of iron chain.

The evil cat contemplated the bruised and battered person in front of her. "I wish your boys hadn't messed her up," she carped as she leaned back against her chair. "I keep telling you, I need intact bodies for my experiments. I don't want ones with missing fingers and the like."

"They had no choice," Phaecis returned, emerging from the solitary doorway that led into the Black Cat's lair. "She fought like a tiger, so they had to be rough. I'm sorry that doesn't appeal to your vanity."

The Black Cat sighed. "That's too bad. She's quite pretty, for a human. I wouldn't mind having her as a host for my experiments. May I ask your name, _liebchen?_"

Dark brown eyes alight with anger snapped up to look at cool, clinical light blue-green ones. "Haru Yoshioka," she said defiantly.

The Black Cat's eyes widened. "Oh, so you're that one," she said smoothly. "The human woman who's been seen with Baron lately."

"What's it to you, you freak statue?" Haru shot back.

"Nothing, really. But someone might have something to say about that." The thief and assassin closed her eyes and appeared to shudder slightly. When they reopened there was far more animosity in them. And, strangely, a look of hurt.

The Black Cat got off her chair and stepped down to yank Haru to her feet. An intense gaze scrutinized her for several seconds as the grips on her upper arms tightened.

"So you're the one my inamorata chose to pass the time with while I wasn't with him, eh?" the Black Cat said bitterly. "What did you do to him, you filthy human girl? How dare you try and steal him away from me! You'll never win, don't you know that?"  
Haru didn't answer.

"What gave you the right to snatch Humbert's affections from me?" cried the thief, shaking Haru roughly. "Answer me!"

"You tried to kill him!" Haru spat in her face. "I think that's enough reason to take him away from you. You don't deserve him!"

"I don't deserve him? You're the one who doesn't deserve him! And—" the cat's voice faltered "—I wasn't the one who stabbed him..."

"What are you talking about?"

The Black Cat sighed and trembled. Then she ordered the two dogs to take Haru to the jail block. She would prepare her later, when Lune's forces were taken care of.

------oOo------

The Doctor, once more in control of the female body, sat back down as Phaecis' henchmen led Haru away.

_My dear, it hurts, doesn't it? You're just like an appliance the Baron's replaced with a newer model._

_Yes._

_I could help you get your revenge on him._

There was a long silence. _How?_

_Just don't stop me from doing what I'm doing, like you usually try to do._

_Very well. But you have to promise me something._

_What?_

_You mustn't kill him._

The Doctor hesitated. _My dear, that's an incredibly hard thing to ask of me._

_You must do it or I will not help you._

The Doctor couldn't help slamming a fist down on the arm of the chair. _Gruβ Gott! You're not exactly in a position to make demands, Baroness!_

_Nevertheless, have we got a deal?_

The Black Cat slumped back in her seat, emitting a gusty sigh as she did so.

_Arguing with you is like arguing with a conscience. I should've found a way to get rid of you a long time ago._

_Then you would have died too._

_Anything's better than quarreling with you for more than fifty years! Or having to keep a constant vigil, just in case you try to stop me by killing yourself. We're like a married couple who can't divorce one another!_

There was a brief, ghostly chuckle that made the spirit of the Doctor shiver._ That is the price you pay for immortality, mein Leiber. This body is my house, and you are still merely an intruder in it._

The Doctor sighed at her words. _My dearest Louise, I grow weary of this argument. We have gotten along well enough in the past. You're not going to make trouble for me now, are you?_

_Ah, that was only because this silly woman became depressed without hope. But now that my dearest is so near..._

_Your dearest will be dead, then. I'll find him and make sure of it. I will not be denied a measure of revenge. Since you're behaving very rudely, the most I can offer is to let you see the pain in his eyes before I kill him. What sayest thou, O Baroness?_

_I..._ Louise's voice trailed off into silence, and never came back.

------oOo------

Seiji studied the sight before him. "I thought you were joking, Toto."

"Nope." The crow, perched on a boulder to Seiji's left, shook his body, like a dog shaking off water. "I can't believe it myself."

"You know," mused Shizuku, "for a bunch of pirates they've got a pretty sophisticated sense of humor."

They stood in front of the strangest sight any of them had ever seen in the Cat Kingdom yet: a low, wide door under a gray stone awning, bordered by deep, narrow plant boxes set with neat rows of agapanthus stalks bearing eye-pleasing purple florets at their ends, contrasted with fiery red-and-yellow hot poker spikes. Above the awning, stuck to the stony wall of the mountain, was a neon sign, with an arrow that pointed down at the doorway and proclaimed "Secret Entrance" in a lurid violet. The only incongruous element was the visage of a man surrounded by tendrils of plants hanging atop the entrance. It had its fanged mouth open in a devilish smile and would have looked very forbidding in a more appropriate locale—say, a cemetery or a haunted house.

"This is definitely a trap," Shizuku said.

"Of course it is," concurred Toto. "I can't think of another reason why they'd put this up like so."

"Did you find any other entrances, Toto-san?"

"No. But this valley's been strangely quiet today. No one even bothered to take potshots at me while I was out looking for Haru." Whom he didn't find, although he did come across some evidence of Baron, Gabriel and the Stormy Cats having come this way: a small cache of food and equipment, left behind in a copse for some unknown reason.

"Then I guess we'll have to take this one," said Seiji. "If something bad happens, Shizuku will be able to use her magic to protect us."

Shizuku looked at him and smiled sweetly. "You seem to have a lot of confidence in me today."

"Don't I, always?"

"Mhmmhmm." She chuckled. "I still remember you telling me you'd never eat any attempt of mine to cook chicken hot pot ever again."

"That was different." Seiji gave his wife's hand a squeeze and turned to Toto. "I don't think you should come along with us. You should go back and warn King Lune about those robots we told you about."

Toto blinked a dark, beady eye and looked sideways at him. "I was thinking the same thing, but what about you?"

"Don't worry. With Miss Magical Girl here, we can take care of ourselves."

"If you say so. Stay sharp, okay? I don't want to lose a couple more friends." The crow spread his wings and flew off. Seiji and Shizuku watched him hugging the mountain face, dwindling in a few minutes to a black dot against the bright yellow morning sky.

"You know," said Shizuku, "there's one thing I don't understand."

"What's that?"

"If Baron and the others are supposed to be sabotaging the defenses, why haven't we heard anything? You know, explosions and that stuff?"

Seiji looked up at the mountain. "That's probably because they were told to keep things quiet for as long as possible, remember?"

Shizuku thought about it. "I guess. They probably also went in here, since this _is_ the secret entrance Shoukichi indicated. Come on." She looked at Seiji, confidence brimming in her gaze, and with a wave of her hand produced a translucent white force field around them.

They started to walk towards the gaping doorway. Upon reaching it Shizuku cut her field in half so they could touch the door. Seiji gingerly grasped the doorknob and pulled.

"Why, it's fake!"

Shizuku touched the door. "So it is." The entire thing was made in one piece, and judging by its cold and smooth feel was made of metal, not wood, as it had been painted to appear.

"How're we going to get in now?" asked Seiji despairingly. For a moment he wanted to punch the door, but decided against it, as the noise might alert anyone within.

"Leave that to me." With a smug smile on her face Shizuku closed her eyes. She made a lifting motion with her hands, and the slab of metal creaked upwards until it disappeared totally into its recess in the rock.

Quickly re-encapsulating themselves in the field just in case someone within was ready to attack them, Shizuku peered inside and had her first glimpse of what lay within. Beyond the door lay a passageway, narrow, well-lit and empty, furnished in a genteel Victorian fashion, with a red carpet covering the floor and gas lamps jutting out from the wood-paneled walls providing ample illumination with their soft yellow glow. It extended far into the depths of the mountain, so far that they couldn't see the end of it from where they stood.

"Shizuku, I'm starting to become afraid of you," Seiji admitted.

"Eh? Why?"

"I keep fearing you'll turn those awesome powers of yours on me if I so much as tease you."

"That's silly. I'd never do that. Don't you trust me?"

They stepped across the threshold. Seiji said quietly, "Well, you _did_ betray Haru's trust..." The pained look on Shizuku's face made him want to retract his words immediately, and the protective field around them seemed to waver somewhat. "I'm sorry. But it's the truth."

Shizuku remained silent, frowning as they cautiously took some more steps into the mountain. After about twenty meters in the look on her face worsened. She brought a hand to her temple. "Ohhh... my head's starting to hurt..."

"What? Why?"

Before they could do anything the metal door Shizuku had raised slammed into place behind them with an earth-shaking _boom._ The writer dropped to her knees, shaking her head and groaning in pain. Her magic field petered out.

"Shicchan! What's wrong?" As his wife didn't answer, Seiji bent down to scoop her up in his arms and run like hell towards the other end of the corridor. Anything was better than being stuck here, he thought as his legs started pumping.

All of a sudden the lights winked out, and they were trapped in an utter blackness, alone and confused and terrified, with only a small, gentle hissing sound to keep them company. Seiji turned hither and tither, bumping into the walls and twice stumbling and at the last letting go of his wife and keening her name as he tried to grope for her. The last thing his conscious mind registered before the choking black veil was pulled over it was Shizuku screaming in pain.

Outside, the Green Man astride the doorway snaked its long, forked tongue out of his smiling mouth and licked his lips. Its red eyes glowed briefly as the unearthly spirit within the stone mused on foolish mortals, as it had done for the countless years since its creation, and several times just that early morning. It hoped its amusing master would gift it with a soul to eat or two. It had been such a long time since it tasted such fare.


	23. Words

_We use words to try and get closer to each other, but all they do is break us apart.  
-Chris Hawken,_ Earth Girl Arjuna

WORDS  
(KOTOBA)

"Get in there," growled the Chihuahua-Shih Tzu mutt, giving Haru a rough shove into the dark, stuffy cell.

Once more she stumbled, and once more she got a close-up view of the ground. She coughed away the dirt from her mouth, knelt up and looked back, glaring at her tormentors, who sneered at her helplessness and closed the cell door with a clang.

"I hope someone neuters you!" she shouted after them.

"Oh, be quiet," came a low voice from behind her.

She turned. In a corner of the dimly-lit cell sat one of the Stormy Cats. She could recognize him by his characteristic baggy khaki pants, if nothing else, for he was blacked up and everything he carried at the start of the voyage was missing.

"It's you! What happened?"

The cat snorted. "What does it look like? I got caught." He spat into the opposite corner of the cell. "Everyone got caught."

Haru's heart turned as cold as ice. "Everyone?"

The commando looked up. "Everyone."

"B-but how?"

"They were waiting for us. You saw that funny-looking secret entrance, didn't you?"

"No. They took us in through the big door, the one with all the strange machinery inside it."

"Eh? I didn't see any big door. Anyhow, the secret entrance the tanuki showed us was a trap. They gassed us and here we are." The cat shifted. "From what I could gather someone spilled the beans, a traitor or spy somewhere."

"Where are the others?"

The cat gestured with his head. "Some of them are in the cells beside ours. Others were taken away. I don't know why."

"Baron?" Haru blurted out, unable to help it.

"Your loverboy escaped," the cat said flatly. "We helped him. I don't know where he is now. He could be still wandering around in this place, or be miles away by now."

"That can't be! Baron wouldn't leave you guys! More likely he's trying to find a way to rescue us, even now. In any case, we didn't meet anyone before the pirates took us in."

"We?"

"Two cats came here with me. One of them was wounded."

"Haru?" called a familiar voice from somewhere outside the cell.

Her eyes lit up and she stood up and rushed to the door. "Muta?" she yelled, trying to squeeze her face in between the iron bars so she could look down the corridor. "They got you too?"

"Yeah. What the devil are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Baron."

"Oh, and not me? I'm hurt, Haru. A fine kettle of fish you landed yourself in."

"Yeah, well... can't you bend the bars of the cell door?"

"Who do you think I am, Superman?" A note of disgust entered the already grumpy voice. "You should've accepted your fate and stayed on board the ship."

"Well, I didn't, so there! That was very hurtful, what you guys did." Haru's voice broke as she said it.

"Baron only wanted you to remain safe."

"Then he should've trussed me up and sent me home after he got well," she retorted. "I'm not sure I want to forgive you for what you did."

Muta didn't answer for a long time. When next he spoke, it was to inquire how she got to the pirate base and if 'that idiot bird' was all right.

"I–" Haru suddenly stopped as she remembered Sturmvogel and Sergeant Jarashi and Corporal Fisher. "I got someone to carry me here, Muta. He–he's dead now. I don't know how Toto is. Last I knew he was chasing us here with Shizuku and Seiji-sensei on his back, but one of the cats with me shot him and they fell into the sea." She continued, telling how she, Sturmvogel and the two cats had flown up the valley at high speed, and how the osprey had been shot and barely managed to pull out of his dive before death overtook him and he shattered upon hitting the ground.

The giant cat's voice didn't return, and Haru pulled her face out from between the bars and sat down dejectedly beside the door. She didn't have much time to brood, because in a couple of minutes another pair of dogs wearing bandoliers and scarves on their heads threw the irate, spluttering Tweep Fisher and the wounded Sergeant Jarashi into the cell. She shook herself out her maudlin funk and tried to see what she could do to make the Sergeant more comfortable. He had saved her life by taking a bullet meant for her in his arm.

"I'm so sorry you got into this mess," she murmured as she yanked the bottom edge of her blouse from under her leggings and tore a long strip from it. "Here, let me see that." She replaced the bandage on the wound; it was already soaked with blood and was full of dirt.

"Thanks, Miss Haru," the noncom said, grimacing as he lifted the arm to pat her on the shoulder.

"Please, Sergeant, don't mention it. It's my fault you got shot." She rested him against the wall of the cell, and began stroking his pate while Fisher continued his tirade against their jailers by kicking the cell door and shouting curses that involved their parentage and toilet habits.

The cat commando, who had so far lain silent in his corner, stirred. "Hey, Army brat, shut up!" he snarled.

"Make me, pussycat," the dark-furred cat challenged him. "I don't know how you can just lie there like a contented pig."

"You nincompoop," the Stormy Cat shot back. "You should save your strength until a chance to break out shows itself. You're not doing anyone any good acting like a jackass."

"He's right, Fisher," Jarashi agreed as Haru gently tweaked his golden hoop earring. "Sit down. Miss Haru, you'll scratch his head too, please?"

"Sure." As Haru kept on scratching his head, the wounded cat's fur rippled. "You know, Sergeant, you never did tell me your first name."

"Hmm? Oh, it's Neko."

Haru raised an eyebrow. "Neko?"

"Yeah. I know what you're thinking. My father had a weird sense of humor."

_Neko Jarashi,_ Haru thought in disbelief, remembering large, pale green panicles that swayed and fell as she cut them with borrowed shears._ Those plants the servants of Lune's father planted on my lawn. Sheesh._

"Funny name or not," said she, "I'm still grateful for you saving my life."

"Ah, all in a day's work. Actually, I was trying to push you out of the way, but I guess this old body of mine was too slow."

"Heeey," Fisher grumbled, "don't hog all the attention, Sarge." He sort of collapsed like a boned accordion beside Haru. "Just because you got that piddling wound doesn't mean you got the right to monopolize Miss Haru."

Haru's chuckled and scratched another feline head, and her ministrations soon calmed Fisher's nerves and his hackles lay back flat against the rest of his fur as he waited along with the rest of them.

------oOo------

"Fish in the water, port forward!" shouted one of Captain Loriel's bridge lookouts.

"Tuna or mackerel?" she dryly inquired. The young crew of the _Longshallows _was too excitable. Only Papazzo, Kagaccha and the other senior department heads were cool and collected under fire. "Personally, I'd like bonito. Hard to port, helmsman. Keep an offset. Defense, a clacker, please?"

"Yes, ma'am," acknowledged the russet-brown cat sitting behind and to her right. "Clacker away."

The seconds ticked down as the _Longshallows_ heaved to like a terrified whale and altered course. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when another lookout eventually reported, "Torpedo missed us!"

"Does anyone see the sub?" asked Loriel. They found out what had holed the _Grimalkin,_ when around a half-hour ago someone saw a periscope snooping out of the waves. Loriel had taken it on her own initiative to engage the vessel, despite the additional burden of the _Grimalkin's _survivors, to protect the _Matatabi_ and the _Conquistador_ as they began to release their troops

"I got it!" called the lookout who had reported the torpedo earlier.

"Good! Kagaccha, open the two top rows of the Wall. Lookout, steer us to a collision course."

"Pardon, ma'am?" the shocked lookout asked.

"You heard me! Do it!"

The cat swallowed. "Come hard to starboard, five points," he began, setting the _Longshallows_ to ram the underwater menace.

In the meantime Kagaccha, who was also a weapons officer, flipped a bank of switches on her front-facing console. Everyone on board heard the loud clanking of pistons and the whir of electrics as doors high in the front superstructure of the monitor fell away, exposing two rows of large-caliber cannons to the world. They were part of the Wall of Fire, an experimental system intended to turn shore targets into instant rubble and to quickly sink faster opponent ships.

"Wall armed and ready, Captain."

"Fire at will."

"Yes, ma'am." The OD pulled up a huge pedestal-mounted gunsight from her console and began to search through its camera eyes for the offending submarine.

------oOo------

There was a peculiar humming and thrumming in King Lune's blood as the longboat made its way to shore. He knew it for what it was: the adrenalin surge, the anticipation of battle. When he was younger he secretly courted it the way a bravo would court a maiden, but now, with so many lives entrusted to him, and the thought of beautiful Yuki waiting back at the Cat Castle for his return, he was more somber and level-headed in his actions. But that didn't stop him from exulting in the rush.

There were, all in all, 742 troops and sailors in the attacking force. Slightly over three hundred of these were infantrymen and marines. The rest were anchor-clankers, spar monkeys, quartermasters, cooks and the ilk that the landlubbing soldier cats disdained. Sixty of these troops were cavalrymen, divided into two units, one under Lune and the other under the command of General Gastron, his best cavalry officer. The horseclaw riders had disembarked first, to secure the landing beach, while the next waves got ready behind them.

"Our plan's working!" he shouted to his tabby aide, who was trying to keep both her stomach and Lune's horseclaw nice and calm in the choppy water. "They can't shoot at the ships with the sun in their eyes!" Their approach had been so planned as to keep the troopships lost in the glare of the morning sun, invisible to whatever lookouts the pirates might have.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the long-suffering aide replied. She had fought to gain this position of hers, since she admired both Lune's societal reforms and his handsome looks. Too bad he was already married to Queen Yuki...

"Heaven willing," she heard him say in a lower voice, "we'll get through this with a minimum of casualties and we can all go back home and bicker about rights-of-way and other such petty things."

Behind them, the _Conquistador _and_Matatabi's_ twin cannon and the _Albedo's _numerous deck guns boomed out their symphony of thunder. Shells whistled far above their heads, to impact against the mountainside far away in orange blossoms and dirty clouds of smoke. The assault had begun.

------oOo------

Haru's nose wrinkled at the dust falling from the rock ceiling. "Aw, crap, they've started," she heard someone from a nearby cell say.

"They're not going to bring this place down around us, are they?" she asked, her voice unsteady as Corporal Fisher and Sergeant Jarashi huddled against her.

"They probably think we've already left," said the Stormy Cat. "I wish someone could've told them about our situation."

"Hey, Iijayu," called the same voice.

The Stormy Cat's ears perked up. "Yeah?"

"I thought you were wearing those special pants of yours."

"I am. Lost the detonators when they took our stuff, though."

"I got one with me. You feel like setting off some fireworks of our own?"

"Shhh. They might be listening." The Stormy Cat quickly scampered to the bars and stuck his paw out. Haru watched a pencil-like object roll to a stop near it. He quickly snatched it up and withdrew to the rear of the cell, where he started to unbuckle his pants.

"Um–" Haru noised, embarrassed.

The commando looked at her. "What's the problem?" he asked innocently.

Haru subsided. Why was she flustered? After all, this was the Cat Kingdom; wearing bottoms was optional for the felines. It was just so human-like an act her reaction had been automatic.

"Nothing, nothing."

The commando quickly began to rip his pants apart. As Haru watched, he gathered up a whitish, gummy material that had been secreted into the seams of the garment and rolled it into a ball, which he stuck on one end of the pencil-like object.

"Oi," a wavering voice called from outside the cells. "Eatin' time, me hearties." There was a thumping and shuffling noise, and a stooped old pirate cat, black-furred and in mufti, wearing an eyepatch and with a wooden right leg, came into view of Haru, pushing a small cart before him. Their cell was nearest to the entrance.

"You is lucky King Phaecis' feelin' kind today, he is. You gets to eat before we kills you," the old tom commented as he pulled a ladle from the cart and opened a big casserole pot on top of it. He blinked a rheumy yellow eye at Haru. "Oh, I thoughts you was all cats in 'ere," he said, steadily staring at her. "Hopes she likes what I made."

The Stormy Cat surreptitiously handed the device in his paw to Jarashi, who shoved it behind his back. "Ah, old father," he said ingratiatingly, "I don't suppose we can convince you to let us go."

The old pirate looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "You think I'm daft or sumptin'?"

"Oh, no, no. We just don't want to die, that's all."

"Well, you is gonna die, and I can't change that." The cat took out a pile of shallow bowls and began ladling something that looked like slop into each bowl. "'Ere, my good cat, you give this to your friends in there. Don't try anything funny," he warned as the commando reached for the bowl, "or I'm goin' ta blow you away." He patted the hefty bulge at his waist, underneath his shirt.

"Lady Yoshioka," said the cat named Iijayu, handing the bowl to her. She took a sniff. Whatever the yellow gruel was, it didn't smell bad. She handed it to Jarashi. The Sergeant was about to taste it when the commando motioned for him not to.

The old cat had finished giving them all bowls of food and was wheeling the cart over to the next cell when he paused and looked back at them. "Well, you know, there is one thing I'd like. But you gotta promise you won't give me away."

"What is it?" asked Iijayu. He had not been expecting the old cat to take him up on his offer.

"I'd, um, I'da like a kissh from that pretty girl you gots with you, seein' as how I'm an old cat an' all whom the tabbies don't even give the time of day to."

"What?" Haru spluttered. "No way!"

"You mean you'll let us go if she'll give you a kiss?" the Stormy Cat quickly asked, setting his bowl down on the floor and clutching at the iron bars.

The old cat nodded.

Iijayu turned. "Lady Yoshioka?"

"I-I..." Haru looked at the faces of the cats around her and imagined the others listening for her response. "You're not pulling my leg, are you, Uncle?" she asked. "I mean, you're not just going to get your kiss and then lock me up again?"

"You have the word of an old seaman," the tom solemnly swore. "It's been over twenty years since I kissed a lass, and by that I mean not a lady of the night."

Haru hesitated. Why did these things have to happen to her? "Oh, all right. One kiss."

The old cat nodded. "An' then your friends will have ta knock me out so I can say it was a jailbreak."

The highly unusual deal—whoever heard of betraying your comrades for something as trifling as a kiss?—was still swirling in Haru's mind when the old cat slowly unlocked the door with a set of keys. Haru gingerly stepped outside, and in a flash the pirate shut the door and advanced upon her with an evil gleam in his remaining eye.

"J-just a kiss," she reminded him, backing away.

"Of course, of course."

To get things over with as quickly as possible, Haru bent down and kissed him on the cheek. Of course the old tom was having none of that, and he shifted her face and kissed her full on the lips.

Haru gulped and closed her eyes at the icky warm feeling and not-so-nice smell of the old pirate. The things she did for friends... Seconds passed and the horrid lips left hers, but she didn't want to open her eyes for fear of gagging when she saw the cat who had kissed her. Such an insult would probably land her back in the cell and nix any more chance of escaping, or worse, get her shot.

"Why, Haru, I thought you liked kissing me."

Her eyes popped open. There, standing in front of her, was the old cat, but the erect posture and the twinkle in his beautiful big yellow orbs (the eyepatch had been turned up) marked an entirely different person within.

"B-Baron?"

"Oh, it's so good to be able to stand up straight," the Cat groaned. "It's no joke when you have to take a goodly portion of your height off for hours at a time."

"Baron?"

"I think my leg's gone to sleep. Could you help me take this stump off?"

"Baron?"

The old cat gave her an exasperated look. "Well, what? It's me! I'm in disguise, as if you didn't already realize that by now. God, this mask stinks."

"Baron!" she squealed, throwing herself at him. "I must be dreaming!"

"And I must be having a nightmare," he returned as he caught her up in his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I came after you."

"I wish you didn't."

"Well, I did. Wait a minute, why am I so happy to see you? I should belt you a good one for fooling me the way you did." Haru's eyes narrowed and her countenance became unfriendly.

"So you should. Go ahead, hit me."

Reliving the embarrassing episode of a few hours earlier, Haru felt totally disgusted with herself. Did she have so little pride that she would let that trespass of Baron's by without even so much as a slap? She balled her right hand into a fist and prepared to let one fly.

There was a polite clearing of the throat. "If it's not too much trouble, could you two free us before someone else comes along?" Iijayu asked.

A chorus of agreement sounded all along the length of the corridor, and the embarrassed couple broke apart and went to work. Baron had liberated the keys from the pirate cat who was supposed to be the jailer—and that worthy fellow was even now sleeping soundly just inside the cell block's main door, thanks to a generous serving of knockout powder in his rum—and set about opening the first few cell doors while Haru took hold of the ladle and began doling out what turned to be a decent curry from the pot to the freed soldiers.

Muta emerged from his cell looking none too happy. He was angry at having been deprived of food for the last couple of hours. If a pirate had been around at that time, his life would've been held hostage to the powerful rumbling in the fat cat's stomach.

"Glad to see you, my friend," Baron greeted him as he emerged into the higher-ceilinged corridor like a wall of supple moving fat.

"About time you got here."

"Sorry. I couldn't resist stopping by the kitchen and the armory after I located this place on the map. I knew you'd be hungry, so I brought along another helping of food."

"You stopped to cook?" was Muta's disbelieving question.

"No, I just took what was already there."

"Oh. Give me the keys, I'll release everyone else. Where's Gabriel?"

"I don't know. Before I escaped I saw him being carried off with a few other Stormy Cats to a place the pirates called the 'Freezer.'"

"I don't like the sound of that." The giant cat turned away and headed for the cell doors further down the passage. "Hey, Baron?"

"Yes?"

"The kid must really love you, to come after you like this."

"I'm aware of that."

"Well, I think you ought to stop jerking her around. Trying to protect her is fine, but when it means hurting her feelings by fooling her... You should tell her in no uncertain terms that you want to break your relationship off now. At least be that kind to her." There was a dull boom, and the mountain shook again, as if to emphasize the giant cat's words.

"Muta, I... I'll talk to her if I have the time. Right now we've got to get out of here. And you know something? I learned that it wasn't Louise who tried to kill me."

The fat cat spun around. "What do you mean?"

"I heard a lot and saw a lot while I was sneaking around," the Baron said. "The Black Cat isn't Louise. It's my old arch-enemy the Doctor, the one I told you about."

"You mean the old fart who could make mechanical insects and stuff?"

"The very one. I don't know how, but he's somehow taken on Louise's form."

"But why?"

"I don't know. To spite me, I guess."

"Wait, that can't be right," said Muta, after a moment's consideration. "That was more than fifty years ago. He's still alive? And the Black Cat was here even before you arrived, so the Doctor couldn't have taken Louise's form just to spite you. He wouldn't have known you were coming. He must've had some other reason."

"I know. There are some points which are still unclear to me."

"Well, the Black Cat not being Louise must be a load off your mind, then."

Baron nodded grimly. "I won't be so held-back the next time she decides to play with me. The only thing that worries me now is whether we've been chasing a phantom all along, and Louise was never really here to begin with. But all I remember of the Black Cat's behavior during our fight contradicts that." Baron wouldn't tell Muta of Louise's 'please kill me' speech, which still disturbed him; he owed her memory, her reputation that much.

"Maybe _he_ knows where the Baroness is," suggested Muta.

"I know, and I'm going to ask him myself. Care to join me?"

"Just after I've unlocked the doors and eaten a little." Muta paused and looked past his friend. Baron's gaze followed his, to where Haru, smiling, was continuing to distribute bowls of food from the cart to those who hadn't gotten a serving yet. "What're you going to do with her?"

"I've got no choice. I'm taking her with us." Baron sighed. "I love her too, Muta, but don't go telling her that, okay?"

Muta's expression was unreadable as he said, "No worries. My lips are sealed." He trudged off to open the remaining cells. The Cat returned to talk to the commandos, the two soldiers, and Haru.

------oOo------

The _Longshallows'_ cannons erupted in a wall of flame and the surface of the water responded by leaping on high in story-tall white geysers.

"Did we get her?" asked Captain Loriel as the geysers fell back into the sea from which they had been conjured.

"Can't tell yet, ma'am. I—oh! Oil slick in the water."

Some of the bridge crew cheered, but Captain Loriel cut them off. "Wait for it. Kagaccha, keep your eyes on that slick. See if you can tell if it's just a decoy."

There was a tense silence for several seconds, and then one of the lookouts shouted, "Debris coming up, Captain! Lots of it!"

The cheering started again, and this time the Captain let them alone.

"Well done! That should take care of that pesky nit. Helmsman, take us around and head for the firing line. We're too late as it is."

"Yes'm."

The monitor began turning, pointing its nose towards the beach and heading for the place where she was supposed to be, on the right end of the landing beach. She was halfway through the maneuver when disaster struck.

The ship shuddered mightily, and from somewhere deep within came the creaking and groaning of tortured metal.

"What in blazes is that?" Loriel shouted as she gripped the armrests of her chair to steady herself.

The cat manning the sound-powered telephone looked up. "Captain, it's Engineering. They think the sub's trying to surface under us!"

Another huge rumble and a loud boom sent everyone, standing or seated, sprawling to the deck. Loriel picked herself up and ran outside.

The Chief was right. There was that cigar-shaped monstrosity crosswise underneath the keel, and bubbles were rising in great sheets from her starboard side. Her small conning tower showed obvious damage, bent and punctured metal and broken antennae.

"Kagaccha!" she yelled. "You've got the helm!"

"Wait, Captain, where are you going?" asked the OD in alarm. Loriel didn't answer her as she rushed off, her metal feet clanking on the deck.

------oOo------

Twenty minutes later, the _Longshallows_ had herself prisoners: the crew of the submarine. The intrepid Captain had run along the length of the monitor until she was close enough to jump onto the submarine, which she did with alacrity. Then, wielding a length of metal pipe, she hauled herself up the conning tower and banged against the hatch on its top until it opened and a pistol was pointed at her. With her faster-than-fast reflexes she snatched it away and offered the pirates a choice: either die with their doomed vessel or be taken aboard the _Longshallows _as surrenderees. There was a hurried consultation, and the cats and dogs chose to take the prudent course of action and were sling-lifted quickly onto the monitor.

All was not well, however: the ship itself had suffered grievous damage. The Chief reported that in several places the hull of the _Longshallows_ had been breached, and the seams were too wide to repair. Damage Control was working as hard as it could, and the pumps were howling like banshees, but... she was going to sink in an hour or so.

------oOo------

On the island Lune and his riders were already charging forth. The King was a sight to behold, astride his mount in his shining silver-colored armor, with the huge royal blue cabochon on his winged helmet heralding his status to all who could see.

Everything was going well so far. The troops were now a third of the way to their goal. The pirates were only giving sporadic resistance to the three columns pushing steadily inland. They would fire a few shots, then fade into the boulders and trees. There were already a few casualties, but far less than he had expected. It was puzzling, though: he had always wondered why the Phaecis Gang chose to defend this place, instead of running off and looking for another, as they did in the days of his father's reign. At least now things would end.

"King Lune!"

"Mister Toto?" The crow flew up to him, and Lune halted his mount. "What brings you here?"

"Am I glad I found you," the avian panted as he landed beside the King's mount. "I've got bad news. It seems Haru has been captured by the pirates."

King Lune groaned. "I hope she's alright."

"That's not the worst of it." Toto told him about the pair of mechanical monsters Seiji and Shizuku had seen.

"What are these 'robots', Toto? I don't think I understand."

"Haven't you seen one before?"

"Humor me."

The bird fired off a quick explanation. "Oh," King Lune commented, "you mean something like those silly toy dogs that are sold in the human world? How can something so small be a threat?"

"Not _those_ robots," the irritated bird said. The almighty roar of a large gun caused both of them to look towards the mountain. "_Those_ robots!"

King Lune's jaw fell open.

------oOo------

"I am going to release my army in a matter of minutes, Phaecis. Good luck with the trouble upstairs."

"Thank you. Try to keep the carnage down to a minimum, please. Otherwise, we'll be weeks cleaning up the mess. And you know how grouchy everyone gets when the place stinks."

The Black Cat laughed. "Of course." She watched the Pirate King walk into the dark corridor and turned to look at the recesses lining the wall of her chamber. Normally dark, these were now lit, and figures occupied two of them.

_Well, my dears, you've gone and gotten your foolhardy selves into something you shouldn't have. You'll be my ace in the hole, if everything else fails. And if they don't, I'll have a lovely time experimenting on you, my dear magic-user._

------oOo------

When everyone had been freed and had eaten up (there had been a bit of a scuffle when Muta drove everyone else away from the second stewpot and proceeded to gulp its contents down like a giant drain), the commandos and agents conferred on what to do. Some wanted to find Gabriel and those of their number who had been taken; others wanted to find a way out and warn King Lune that everything was in a shambles and a potential disaster was in the making; still others wanted to go on with the original mission, which was messing around with the pirates' lair and defenses. In the end they agreed to compromise: a small number would look for their missing leader, the majority would continue to their goal points and disrupt them as much as possible, while Baron and Muta took on the responsibility of hunting for a way to warn King Lune. Aside from the defenses Shoukichi had been rather vague about other places in the pirate lair, but there had been mention of radios and the like, so they were reasonably confident that they would find a way to contact the Cat Kingdom forces and tell them that the operation was compromised.

Just before leaving on their mission Baron opened the bottom half of the cart to reveal a cache of weapons he had recovered from the pirates along the way. To the soldiers' surprise it was their kit, almost complete. Haru got her smallsword back, and Jarashi even recovered one of his derringers; but the explosives the Stormy Cats had brought with them were gone.

They were standing in the corridor waiting for their turn to exit the jail (having agreed to leave it in pairs at irregular intervals to minimize the commotion) when Haru nudged the Baron. He was once again his usual prim and proper self, aloof and distant in his black tuxedo and top hat.

"Aren't you even a little glad to see me?"

"Not really. You seem glad enough to see me, though I wonder why."

"The answer's simple, but you have to apologize for what you did first."

"I won't."

"Apologize."

"No."

Haru sniffed. "Stuck-up, stiff-necked cat. If that's the way you feel about it."

Two pairs of Stormy Cats had just snuck out the door when Baron spoke. "I apologize."

"No, I won't accept it. You said it because you were forced."

"No, really. I'm sorry."

"Nope. Not sincere enough."

Baron let out a noisy sigh of irritation. "Look, Haru, stop playing this game. If you've got something to say, say it! I'm really not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"Fine, Mister High-and-Mighty." She pulled on his coat so that he turned to face her. "You never let me finish saying this before, so I'm going to do so now. The reason I came here is because I love you, Baron Humbert von Jikkingen, and I want to be with you just in case you need me. I love you even if you returned deception for my trust. I don't care if you have to go back to Louise, or cast me aside like an outgrown toy, or whatever."

"Haru, I didn't mean to–"

"I know. You don't need to explain anything to me."

An awkward silence enveloped the two. The Cat shifted on his feet. "Muta was just telling me a while ago to be clear about ending our relationship. He said I owed you that much."

"So end it, as we agreed. That doesn't mean I have to stop caring about you."

"What it means, little girl," the Baron answered, his voice harsh for some reason, "is that I'm not going to be obliged to return your affections any more, so you might as well drop that act of yours." _God in Heaven,_ he thought. _To be lying again—when will I ever learn? I'm so sorry I have to be pitiless with you, brave young lady._

"It's not an act, Baron. But whatever happens, I'll always have a special place for you in my heart." Haru looked up at him for a moment with eyes that suddenly seemed far too old for her years, then moved up the line and left him alone.

The cat gentleman looked down at the floor. For some strange reason he felt stung; he was supposed to be dumping her, but now—it felt like she had just dumped _him._


	24. Two Talking Cats

_There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,  
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy._

_-Hamlet, _Hamlet Act I Scene V

TWO TALKING CATS

_"What is it with you and cats?"_

_"Hmm? I... don't know. I just like them. They're so cute, aren't they?"_

_Machida chuckled and adjusted his bag, slung on the shoulder of his sweaty soccer uniform. "You remind me of one yourself."_

_"Huh? Oh!"_

_"No need to be embarrassed, Haru. I meant that in a good way."_

_"Well, thanks, I guess." The high-schooler stood up from the sidewalk in front of her house, where she had been kneeling and petting a kitten, and self-consciously pinched the folds of her pleated dark-blue skirt. "Thanks for walking me home."_

_"You aren't busy this Saturday, are you?"_

_"Huh? No, why?"_

_"We could... you know, go out."_

_Haru blinked her large, expressive eyes. "Are you asking me for a date?"_

_Machida smiled ruefully and scratched the back of his head. "I guess so. Yeah, I am."_

_"S-sure! Sure!"_

------oOo------

_Funny I should remember that now,_ Kei Machida thought as he stared at the street in front of Haru's house. He swallowed and continued his journey to the front door. _Why should I remember the beginning of our relationship, when I'm most probably at the end of it?_

------oOo------

Naoko Yoshioka was washing the dishes on a hot Sunday morning in late July when the doorbell chimed. She looked and found Hiromi and Tsuge standing outside the sliding glass doors at the front of the living room, waving at her.

"Good morning," she said as she opened the doors, surprised.

"Good morning, Auntie," said Hiromi, bowing together with her boyfriend. "Sorry to drop by unannounced. We just thought we'd see if you needed anything."

"That's so sweet of you," Haru's mother replied. "I haven't got anything for you to do, but you're welcome to hang around. It makes the place less lonely..." Her eyes wandered to someone coming up the lawn behind Hiromi and Tsuge.

"Machida-kun," she greeted as the youth bowed to her, her voice acquiring a note of frostiness. "Fancy seeing you here."

"I... um, just wanted to see if I could help."

"Oh, we asked him to come over too, Auntie. I'm sure he could help," said Hiromi quickly, giving Machida a significant look. She stormed into the house past Mrs. Yoshioka together with Tsuge. The mild-mannered woman watched them begin to power through the rooms like a pair of energized dustbunnies. Hiromi asked her for a vacuum, and Tsuge asked to borrow a rag. She got them for the two and they began puttering about and cleaning.

Mrs. Yoshioka thought about protesting some more, then decided to leave them alone. She knew they only wanted to make her feel better. "Oh, um, don't touch my room, and leave the cloth swatches on the floor alone. They're my work," she called.

"_Haaaai,_" Hiromi shouted down to her. She had elected to clean upstairs, while Tsuge would work at ground level.

Mrs. Yoshioka turned and realized Machida was still standing outside, waiting for her to step aside so he could enter. She cast a baleful look on him, and he seemed to wilt and shrink.

"Mother," he said, "I know you'd rather not see me around–"

Mrs. Yoshioka sighed. "It's okay, Machida-kun. I'm not so mad at you anymore. I'm just so worried about Haru. That email and then nothing else, no call, no message telling me she's fine. She's been gone, what, almost four weeks now?"

"Twenty days," Machida answered promptly. He had been counting, ever since Mrs. Yoshioka had found the balcony door closed but unlocked, and some of her daughter's things missing.

"Auntie!" Tsuge yelled. "Could I move this cabinet temporarily?"

Mrs. Yoshioka peered inside. "Yes, but please be careful. Oh, Machida-kun, please, come in."

The somewhat relieved Machida entered. Since Tsuge and Hiromi seemed to be having their departments well in hand, he settled for folding some t-shirts and pants in the living room space, a task he quickly realized he shouldn't have taken up as Haru's garments began to pass under his hands. On seeing a fine blue rayon blouse of hers he had to stop and pause for a while. It was the blouse she had worn on their second anniversary date.

------oOo------

_"Haru? Haru!"_

_"What? Oh, sorry."_

_"You're zoning out on me again. Remembering your mystery friend?"_

_She nodded at him from across the restaurant table. "Sorry."_

_"It's okay." Machida raised his wineglass and let the pale amber liquid inside glow in the discreet lighting. "To you. To us."_

_Haru's answering smile made her face positively radiant with happiness as she lifted her own glass. "To you. To us." They clinked glasses together and drank._

_Machida listened for a moment to the subdued sounds filtering in from the street outside the large plate-glass windows. "It's hard to believe we've graduated," he said._

_Haru followed his gaze. "I know what you mean. I keep thinking of homework I have to do, whether I have a uniform for tomorrow."_

_"Well, there'll be enough of that when we enter college."_

_"Yeah, back to the grind again, except we don't have our old friends with us. I guess I should relax and enjoy this free time." Haru chuckled, took a small sip and returned her wineglass to the table, and they began to eat._

_"Speaking of relaxing, you want to go see the Rainbow Bridge tonight?" Machida suggested some time later._

_"Sure! But if you're driving–"_

_"I know, I know. I'm not going to drink any more."_

_An hour and a half later they were at the riverside, under the glow of Shibaura-Odaiba's Rainbow Bridge lights, watching the ferries pass by on the water. Haru had gathered her skirt under her and was sitting on the walkway rail looking out at the scene, while he stood close beside her, leaning on the cool metal._

_"It's such a pretty sight," she quietly said._

_"Not half as pretty as the sight I'm seeing." Haru turned and found him looking at her, a faint smile flitting across his lips. She blushed and averted her gaze, keeping her thoughts to herself._

_"Take a walk on the promenade?" he suggested, gesturing towards the white structure. "It's still early, so it should still be open."_

_"Okay. It isn't too far for you?"_

_"No, of course not."_

_Haru twisted and got off the railing with his help. She fixed her skirt, then looked up at him._

_"Hey," she whispered huskily. "It's time I ponied up for the wonderful time I had tonight."_

_"Huh?" Machida straightened. "Are you sure?" he asked. She had never been this straightforward before. _

_"Well, if you don't want it–"_

_"Oh, no, I didn't mean that. By all means, ante up." He brought his face close to hers; she balanced herself, leaned over and kissed him._

------oOo------

Machida shoved his mind out of its maudlin mood, stopped folding the clothes, and stood up. He went to the tiny genkan.

"Mother," he said as he put on his shoes, "I'm going to get us some food."

"Oh, don't bother about that," said Mrs. Yoshioka. "I'm making some macaroni salad. I do need some things to make it better, though."

Machida waited while she wrote a list and gave it to him along with some money.

"After I come back," he said quietly, holding the list and a shopping bag in his hand, "could I... tidy up Haru's room?"

Mrs. Yoshioka looked at him from the tiny dining table. "Machida-kun... you know as well as I do that that would be unwise."

"Please, Mother. You can watch me, if you want to."

"I... Okay."

The lad went out, came back after twenty minutes, and waited patiently as she drained the macaroni and created the salad. Then, wiping her hands on a towel, she said, "Alright, let's go upstairs."

The padded silently up the stairs in their slippers. Hiromi was busy vacuuming her friend's room when they entered.

"One side, one side!" she hollered. "Can't do a decent job if you're in the way. I—oh, Auntie."

"You can stop now, Hiromi. Kei will take over. There's salad in the fridge, mashed potato, and tea. Call Tsuge-kun and go ahead and eat."

"Okay," she said, switching off the vacuum and quietly leaving. Her slippers made muffled _plak-plak, plak-plak_ sounds as she scampered down the stairs.

"Hey, Walleye!" they heard her call. "Food!"

"Who're you calling Walleye?"

"You! C'mon!"

Mrs. Yoshioka smiled. "What I'd do without their visits, I don't know. They've kept me from dwelling too much over Haru's disappearance... that is, we've done everything in our power to find her." She wasn't at any relative's, she wasn't at any friend's; it was as if she had dropped off the face of the earth.

Machida glanced at her, picked up the vacuum hose and finished Hiromi's job. Then he idly moved the things on her study table and dresser around, placed Haru's funny, brightly-colored quilted alligator cushion to one side. There was too little space, Hiromi had done much already, and there were too many things for him to really clean up without Haru's supervision, but he did the best he could.

His hand lighted on the little jewelry box on her dresser. He knew its contents; she had shown them to him a long time ago. Two rings, a pendant he had given her, a pair of post-backed cat-shaped earrings...

------oOo------

_"Look, Tsugumi, Haru already apologized. Now why don't you and your goons just back off and leave her alone?"_

_The curly-haired _sukeban_ in the dark winter uniform sneered at him. "Ain't gonna happen, pretty boy." She pulled the chain she was carrying taut. "Someone ought to tell her to get her head out of the clouds more often. Then she wouldn't bump into people so much."_

_"B-but I said I was sorry!" Haru wailed from behind Machida._

_"You've done that too many times for me to forgive you." Tsugumi smiled a cruel smile, and her slit eyes narrowed even further. "But I might be persuaded to forego beating you up this time if you give me those earrings of yours."_

_"What? I can't! My mom bought these for me!"_

_"Haru–"_

_"Oh, too bad then. Get ready for a world of hurt..." Tsugumi and her gang surrounded them, and Machida clenched his fists and got ready to fight._

_"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" shouted someone from across the gym. Tsugumi paused and looked._

_"Ts-Tsuge-sama!"_

_Tsuge nonchalantly walked up to them. "Are you nuts, Kinyo-chan? You want to get caught and not be able to graduate?"_

_"But this girl–"_

_"Happens to be a friend of mine," Tsuge butted in, raising his thick brows. "Please forgive her. You have my word she'll never bother you again."_

_Tsugumi vacillated, looking first at Tsuge, then Haru, and back again. She loosened her grip on her weapon and relaxed. "It's guess it's okay since it's you, Tsuge-sama." She turned to her posse. "Come on, girls." With a bow to Tsuge and a brief apology to Machida they left the building._

_Tsuge waited until they had left before he turned to the couple. "It's a good thing Momo-chan told me what was happening, you two." He raised a hand and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, Machida-kun, why do you and Haru seem to have a penchant for getting into trouble?"_

_"Sorry." Haru came out from behind Machida._

_"Did you zone out again, as I heard?" asked the ping-pong player._

_Haru nodded._

_"Well, don't do that any more, okay? Hiromi would be very sad if we all didn't graduate on time, so watch yourself. Oh, and she told me to tell you she can't come to your house later. She needs to do some research with Chika-chan."_

_"Ara?" said Haru. "But she promised me..."_

------oOo------

"_Ara?_"

The sound made him look up. "What is it?"

Mrs. Yoshioka was standing by the balcony doors, looking through the slats. "There's that black cat again. It's always been there, ever since Haru left. It's as if it's watching the house." She shivered.

"Let me see." Machida opened the door, but all he got was a glimpse of feline tail and rear end jumping down from the low railing surrounding the house. Somehow it didn't surprise him. His girlfriend always did seem to have a strange affinity for cats. And she sometimes seemed to like them as much as she liked people.

------oOo------

"That was real tasty, Auntie," Tsuge said, stretching. "Especially the miso. I'm really sorry I have to eat and run, but duty calls."

"Me too," said Hiromi. "I could come back later, if you want me to."

"It's okay. I enjoyed your company. Thank you for your hard work."

The two stayed for a little longer and then left. Machida lingered.

"You can go if you want to," Mrs. Yoshioka told him. "You don't need to stay."

"Could I stay a little longer? I feel... I mean, if I stay here, I feel as if Haru's not so far away." He shifted in the chair he was sitting on.

"Oh, alright. But I've got to get back to my work. You just go watch TV. Leave the dishes in the sink." She headed for the stairs.

"It's okay, I'll wash them," Machida said. She nodded and disappeared. Machida began gathering the bowls up and stacking them in the sink. He'd irrigate them and let them stand for a little while before washing them. So engrossed was he in his memories as he sat down on the couch that he didn't notice the black cat hopping back up on the railing and looking through the glass doors of the living room at him.

Upstairs, Mrs. Yoshioka groaned as she sat down on the low doughnut-shaped cushion in front of her laptop. She just couldn't stay angry at the young man, especially when he was as doleful as he was right now. She had to admit he loved Haru a lot; her kindness made her overlook his faults for the present, sharing as he was her grief and perplexity over her daughter's disappearance. She remembered his frantic protestations of innocence when the police had questioned him and wondered where Haru was.

------oOo------

Machida lingered until the early afternoon, cleaning the little kitchen space. When he was finished, he happened to turn around and look out the glass doors.

_There's that kitty _okaa-sama_ was talking about._ The black feline was once again on the railing, and the way its greenish-yellow eyes stared intently at him made the hairs on the back of neck stand up.

The cat looked away from him, distracted by something coming up the street. Well, he thought as he quietly made his way to the glass doors, he could do something about it, make Mrs. Yoshioka feel better about the insistent felid. He'd chase it away.

When he looked again the cat was no longer on the fence, but he heard it meowing behind the wall. He tiptoed to where it was and carefully looked over the rail.

There were two black cats sitting on the road, facing each other. They looked alike, and Machida couldn't tell which was the one that was bothering Mrs. Yoshioka. He watched them sitting there with their tails flicking and lashing, purring and meowing and chirruping all the while, and darned if it didn't look like they were talking to one other.

"Hey, shoo!" he called, making waving motions with his hands. "Go away! Quit hanging around here! Quit bothering Haru's mom!"

The cats stood and backed away a foot or two, then—seeing how he wasn't coming out of the gate to chase them off—sat back down, and, if anything, seemed to engage in an even more intense conversation.

The sight irritated Machida. He went back inside the house to look for something to swat the cats with, and came up with a broom. He rushed back outside, and found one of them standing just beyond the glass doors, looking up at him.

"Please don't hit me," it said in an earnest, lispy girl's voice. "Are you related to Haru Yoshioka?"

Machida blinked and stopped the broom in mid-swing. All the worry these past couple of weeks must've really strained his mind, he thought as he looked around for the ventriloquist or joke-player.

"Do you know Haru Yoshioka?" came the voice again. He was impressed. It really seemed to come from the cat itself.

"Well, well," he murmured to himself, "a talking cat." _Two can play that game, Tsuge._ "She's my girlfriend, why?" he answered loudly.

"She's in terrible danger."

Machida lowered the broom and frowned. "Dammit, that's not funny, Hiromi, Tsuge," he called, looking around. "Come out, you two. Stop this foolishness."

The other black cat suddenly bounded into view, jumping onto the railing. "I told you he wouldn't believe you," it said in a voice that sounded decidedly male. "Come on, we have to find someone else to help Miss Haru."

The black cat in front of Machida turned around. "But Moon, he's her boyfriend!"

_Yep,_ Machida thought as he listened to the exchange. _Brain go bye-bye now. How long has it been since I slipped into insanity?_ he wondered. _I guess they ought to really lock me up now._

"So what?" called the other cat. "I don't think he loves her any more. In fact, I think he's trying to put the moves on Miss Haru's mom."

There was a muffled thud as the broom hit the floor.

"Are you crazy?" Machida shouted, outraged. "Oh, what the hell! Where's Haru?"

"Machida-kun, is everything alright down there?" Mrs. Yoshioka called from upstairs.

"Ah, yes, Mother," he replied. When he turned to look back outside he found both cats sitting on the lawn.

"Well?" the male-sounding one asked. "Are you going to gawk there like an idiot, or are you going to come with us?"

_A cat with an attitude. This is getting better and better,_ thought Machida. "Alright, I'll play along. But if this is all a joke of some sort I promise I'll turn your insides into violin strings, whoever you are."

"Whatever," said the other cat, rolling its eyes. "Please, come with us. We need to hurry."

"Just a minute," Machida said, still wondering how he had disconnected himself from reality. "I need to tell Mrs. Yoshioka I'm leaving."

"Hurry up!"

Machida got his brown leather jacket and said his farewells to Haru's mother, then exited the house through the glass doors without waiting for her reply. Still doubting his sanity, he followed the two felines down the road.


	25. Catnip is a Dangerous Weapon

_If I offer my hand to you, will you reject it?  
If I say I'll share your troubles with you, will you say you alone will handle it?  
I don't understand why you want to be alone.  
Nobody wants to be alone.  
Not I._

CATNIP IS A DANGEROUS WEAPON

To understand why it became necessary for the twins (specifically Luna, as she was the one who disturbed Moon's patient guardianship of the Yoshioka abode and approached Kei to ask for his assistance) to reveal themselves to Machida, the clock must be turned back a few hours, to approximately nine and a half in the morning of that fateful day in the Cat Kingdom.

------oOo------

The Baron of Cats looked down from his mountainside seat at the disaster unfolding below him. He was alone; he would allow no one near him, not even Haru, as he contemplated on his next course of action.

They had found the radio room they were looking for, amidst much running and fighting, and he had promptly gotten word to the Cat Kingdom soldiers that everything was compromised, that they should pull back. In return, they had received bad news: there was going to be no retreat, even if it was necessary, for Lune and many of his troops had been captured by the robots that had issued forth from openings in the mountain and proceeded to spray a catnip-like chemical in the air and, as the cats lay there twitching and helpless, injected them with a potent tranquilizer and carried them back to the pirate lair, to meet with an unknown fate.

The Baron had cursed and signed off when a new voice came laughing over the radio room's intercom. "_Liebchen,_ is that you? I was wondering where you went after you escaped. I wanted so much to talk with you."

Everyone in the room—Muta, Haru, the cat commandos with them—had looked at each other. A Stormy Cat beckoned to the Baron and pointed him to the intercom panel.

"And I you, Louise... or should I say Doctor?"

There was a pause. "Oh, so you've figured it out, eh? Well, it won't help you, dear."

"Why not? I won't have any more compunction killing you, now that I know that you're in a fake body."

"A fake body?" There seemed to be a sort of cut-off laugh before the voice returned. "Oh, you still don't get it, do you? Come on, listen to me, you stupid fool: I am Louise and I am the Doctor. Or rather, I am the Doctor, who is in control of your fiancée's body. She so kindly lent it to me for my experiments, and who was I to refuse such a noble offer? But I couldn't kill her, so she's still here with me. You kill me, Baron, and you'll be murdering her as well."

"What? I don't believe you."

"Very well then." There was a period of silence. "_Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn?_" the voice, somehow subdued, recited. "_Im dunkeln Laub die Gold-Orangen glühn­­–_" There was a loud sob. "Humbert? Humbert, it's me."

The Cat nearly crushed the intercom button into bits with his finger at the bit of Goethe. "Louise?" Deep in his heart he already knew the answer. There was no way the Doctor could have known of their walks, of the bits of poetry they said to one another. He usually said those lines to her, and she would reply with–

"_Dahin! Dahin! Möch ich mit dir, mein Gelibter, ziehn!_" he shouted.

"Oh, Humbert. I want to see you so much. But if it will endanger you, then I would rather not. Don't worry about me, dearest. Kill this awful beast who resides within me..." There was a strangled sound, and when the voice came back it had a different tone to it.

"Well," it said, "even after all these years she causes me no end of trouble. I too would like to meet you, von Jikkingen. I presume you know where I am, since you and your friends obviously know your way around if you've managed to reach the radio facility. It was that tanuki, yes? He gave you all the information you needed."

Baron impatiently pressed the button. "Yes."

"Too bad he never got to know about my little mechanical pets. Too nervous and impatient, he was."

"I'll be sure to tell him that after I take care of you, you fiend."

"You flatter me, _Humbert._ I'll be waiting. Of course, so will dozens of Phaecis' henchmen. And just to give you an added incentive..." There was a scrape, and something sharp—like a slap—sounded, and a new voice came over the speaker.

"Baron?"

"Shizuku?" the Cat asked in alarm.

"Yes, it's me. Seiji and I... we got caught when we tried to enter... we were going after Haru... my magic doesn't work, the Black Cat's done something to me..."

In the silence that ensued the radio room was filled with whispers and mutterings.

"Haru's with me, Shizuku. She's okay. What about you?"

There was a series of noises that sounded like a scuffle, and Shizuku screamed "Don't come here, it's a trap!" before she was silenced.

"Ah, women," said the Black Cat. "Fickle, fickle. I'll be waiting, old friend." Then the connection was broken.

The Baron yelled into the microphone for her to come back, but there was no reply. Finally, he dropped his hand and said he needed to think for a little while, then exited the radio room through the huge window carved out of the rock of the mountain.

It was peaceful enough out on the slope. The sounds of battle were carried up from the fields below by the cold wind, and from where he sat he could see the entirety of the conflict. To his left, lying on the distant beach as so much metallic flotsam, or like a beached whale, was the smoking hulk of the _Longshallows._ The Cat had heard over the radio that Captain Loriel opted to beach her, rather than have her sink, and she succeeded in bringing down the two giant mechanical nightmares playing havoc with Lune's troops. But not without great cost; before they were brought down the pirate mechs savaged the monitor with repeated barrages from their arm cannons, and turned her into a heap of junk and killed many of Loriel's crew, who refused to leave their stations—some out of loyalty for their vampiric leader, and some out of the desire for revenge at the sinking of the _Albedo,_ which had fallen victim to another submarine even as the _Longshallows_ raced towards the shore.

The cat with whom Baron conversed over the radio spoke of that battle as a short, violent one, and the ultimate proof of it stuck out of the water beyond the landing beach, to the right of the _Longshallows_: the front of the older monitor, sticking up to the uncaring, slate-gray sky as a monument to her demise. Wrapped around it lay bits and pieces of the pirate submarine that had attacked her. The _Albedo_ had managed to sink the very ship that had brought her to her final resting place, for even as she listed in the water, mortally wounded, her dying captain ordered the crew to fire her guns point-blank at the pirate submarine just under the surface. Her volley had hit, and Cat Kingdom sailor and Phaecis Gang pirate died as both vessels went to their watery graves.

The outlines near the horizon marked the position of the _Neko Umi-Maru_ and the _Conquistador,_ which had, on the orders of the _Albedo's_ captain, fled the field of battle. The only ship left in the vicinity was the _Matatabi,_ since Oh'Sesu had refused to leave, but her guns were long silent, her duty long since changed from fire support to hospital ship. Lune's troops were now so mixed with the enemy that any fire support she could give would only be counterproductive.

The Baron sighed. Everything had seemed so focused and elegant on the drawing boards back at the Cat King's Castle. Now they had only managed to prove the truth of the saying, that no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

_Never mind about the soldiers of the Cat Kingdom, what are you going to do about Louise?_ he asked himself. It was hopeless. He could see no other way to resolve the problem, other than to do what she requested...

"Baron?"

The Cat looked up. "Haru? Didn't I tell you no one was to disturb me?"

"I hoped I could be of some help," she said, ignoring his reprimand and sitting down beside him. "The Stormy Cats are saying they can't hold the corridor for much longer, dearest, even with all the garbage and booby traps we placed in it."

"What am I going to do, Haru?" the Baron asked in anguish, unable to restrain himself any longer. "Louise is so near, yet still so far... as long as I thought it was only the Doctor in that body, I felt I could handle it. But now... I don't know what to do." He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. To his human friend and lover it seemed that he was perilously close to shedding tears. She knew she would have, out of sheer frustration. She had been listening to the exchange on the intercom.

"I wish I could help you, Baron," she said. "I had a plan, but since sensei's been captured by the Black Cat, it won't work now... I can't think of another. I wonder, though, how the Doctor managed to put himself in Louise, so to speak. It's my guess that we must know that first, and only then can we put together a plan of action."

The Baron lifted his head and looked her way. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this. In the space of a few weeks I've managed to sully your innocence with all this treachery and drama."

"Baron, whatever sins you've committed against me, you're more than paying for now... Still, I was glad I came when you needed me. I stayed because I'm more than fond of you... Sir Cat."

Sighing, the Cat hung his head. "Shizuku... I wonder if she and Seiji are all right."

"It's my fault," Haru said quickly. "If I hadn't been so reckless, they wouldn't have been caught."

"And you wouldn't be here as well, in harm's way. But that's past and done, Miss Yoshioka. I guess there's no choice but to fight my way down to the Black Cat's lair, and take the bait she offers."

"'My way,' Baron? You mean 'our way,' don't you?"

"I really can't ask you to risk yourself on what is essentially a suicide mission, Haru." The Cat saw a fireball blossom down below, and watched as one of the Doctor's robotic flyers caught some bullets and described a graceful arc over the battlefield before exploding in a fiery shower. "You've done more than your share in keeping my spirits up these past few days." He drew himself up and thumped his cane on the ground. "Now is the time for Baron Humbert von Jikkingen to stop acting like a lovesick mule and pull his own weight."

Haru chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm trying to imagine you with grayish skin, long ears, buck teeth, and going 'hee-haw,' 'hee-haw.'" She gave the nearer of Baron's knees a slap. "Cheer up, kind sir. You'll find some way to rescue Louise. It's what you heroes do."

The Cat slowly swiveled his head to face Haru, and one of his rare smiles for that day emerged on his face. "Yes, you're right," he agreed, as if a revelation had just come upon him. "That _is_ what heroes do. But I have to tell you this, Haru, before we go back into the fire–"

"Don't say it. You know you shouldn't say it."

"What? That I do care for you, deep in my heart? You know that. But I must pick, and Louise is the one I choose. But that doesn't mean I can't love you as a friend, Haru. A very good friend, who chose to share a little of herself, against all reason and good sense."

Haru blinked. "Pick whom you must, Baron. But shut up, or you'll—or I'll hit you!"

They sat silent for a few minutes, not looking at each other, listening to the sounds of fighting below, until the shell of their awkwardness was broken by a thin, high-pitched voice.

"Baron!"

They both looked up and saw a black winged shape flying up the mountainside towards them. It wasn't Toto the crow who had spoken, however. It was his passenger.

"Cameron?"

Toto landed nearby on the steep slope and the little orange tom hopped off him. "I came as quickly as I could," he said as he ran to them. "It's about Shizuku. I got a message from her, saying she was in trouble."

"I know," returned the Cat, "I just heard from her myself. But what are you doing here?"

"I was trying to track her whereabouts down, but couldn't, so when I saw you I decided to join you."

"You couldn't find her?"

Cameron shook his head. "No, Lady Yoshioka. There is something blocking my magic. Even her message to me sounded strained and was cut off prematurely."

"We were just going to rescue her," said the Baron. "But Cameron, I think you can serve in a better way."

"Oh?" Eyebrow-vibrissidae went up. "How, Baron von Jikkingen?"

The Cat fished inside his trousers and brought out his wallet. "I have with me a list of people I was supposed to contact for the Christmas Party," he said, taking a small slip of paper from the wallet and, with a pen from inside his black tuxedo, scribbling an additional something on it. "I have a hunch we could use their help. Could you be so kind as to go to the Cat Business Office, inform the ones you'll find there of our predicament, and ask them to call on the people on the list? I'm sure Toto can bring you there," he added as the crow hopped to them.

"Baron, did you hear about Lune?" Toto asked.

"Yes, I did."

"I saw it myself. I was just returning to the _Matatabi_ because Cameron had called me, and when I looked back Lune had fallen off his horseclaw, and one of the robots that looked like a spider walked up to him and stabbed him in the chest with a long spike hanging from its belly. Then it put him on its back and took him away. That happened to a lot of the other cats as well. It was a horrible sight."

"How many of the cats are left, Toto?"

"I don't know. A fair number, but they're all gathering near the beachhead and setting up a defense. Most of them are the ones who aren't responsive to catnip."

"Good gravy, this is really a terrible disaster," Cameron said. "Worse than Desert Song, nineteen fifty three."

Baron looked at him. "The one with the doily cart?" He knew what the servant cat was talking about, having read about the event in one of the history books in Fort Lorum's library.

"Yeah."

The Cat shrugged. "Well, this isn't Desert Song. Would you please do as I asked? I'll see to Shizuku. You must hurry, though, or they probably won't get here in time to save anything but our corpses. If we fail," he amended hastily.

Cameron nodded, and Baron gave him the small folded slip of paper. The servant tucked it away in his vest and levitated himself aboard Toto.

The Cat turned to Haru, who was still seated on the rocks. "Last chance for you to go home and stay safe."

She just shook her head.

Baron nodded at her and looked up at Toto. "Take Cameron to the Cat Business Office, my friend," said he. "And if Moon and Luna aren't there, go look for them somewhere near Haru's house! This is a matter of life and death!"

The crow nodded and took off, and the Cat shouted after them, "Fair winds and weather!" _There go the last of my hopes,_ he thought. _If I fail, they'll surely know what to do._

Haru stood up and walked over to him. "What was that business about my house?"

"When I had Moon and Luna forge that email to your mother, I told them to watch over her as well, just in case the Phaecis Gang ever tried something against her. It was highly unlikely that they would, but then, a lot of highly unlikely things have been happening these past few weeks."

Haru linked her arms around the crook of the Baron's elbow. "I know. Like me, and you, and finding Louise, and Shizuku-sensei as well."

"Yes." The Cat patted her hand. "Let's go. We have to rescue Shizuku and Seiji. Maybe we'll find a way to free Louise as well."

Haru, wanting to comfort him, impulsively kissed him on the cheek, an act which earned her a frown.

"Sorry," she replied meekly to his reproving but still beautiful _Engel's Zimmer_-laden eyes. "Last I'll ever give you, I promise."

"I should hope so. I don't think I want to be caught between you and Louise, you know. She can be... pretty possessive at times."

Haru's mind went back to her encounter with the Black Cat, to when the tabby had shaken her by the shoulders and accused her of stealing Baron away from her. At last she understood.

"I think I know that now, Baron." She kept her hold on his arm, though, as she went back with him through the hewn rock window, back into the radio room and the depths of the mountain.

------oOo------

Down in the Black Cat's chamber, things were far less amiable.

"Oh, quit yer whining!" the buccaneer mutt holding Seiji yelled, opening the cell Shizuku was stored in and pushing him inside it. "Sheesh! You humans sure know how to make a racket!"

Seiji turned on him, his eyes blazing with anger. "You know, I never understood why people in some countries ate dogs," he said. "But when I get back home, I'll be sure to try one of you myself!"

The mongrel made a disgusted sound. "Cannibal," he muttered as he left.

Seiji ignored his comment and hurriedly sat down by his wife, who was slumped against the side of the cell, moaning. "Shizuku?" he said tentatively, gently wiping the blood running down from her nose. There was a livid bruise on her left cheek, where the Black Cat had struck her a powerful blow after she had tried to warn the Baron of what was waiting for him.

Her eyebrows lowered and she tensed, and he knew what she was about to do again.

"Stop doing that!" Seiji pleaded. "You know your magic won't work! You'll only hurt yourself even more!" And because the Black Cat had confiscated Shizuku's bluestone, he was worried that she was putting herself in real danger by trying to use her own unmagnified powers. Still, she kept persisting. At first she had faded in and out of existence, shrieking in pain; then the fading had stopped, the shrieks turned into groans, and blood had started flowing out of her nostrils. That was when Seiji began to beg their captors to transfer him to her cell, so he could look after her.

Shizuku opened an eye. "_Anata,_ I've got to stop her, no matter what. It's all my fault," she whispered. "Everything that's happening is all my fault."

"What are you talking about?"

Shizuku shut her eye and wouldn't explain.

"Is it that 'my creation' thing again?" Seiji guessed. "Shizuku, talk to me, damn you."

"I don't understand what she meant by that," the Black Cat said from her seat. She had been watching the couple, the way a butterfly collector would observe a prospective catch—all avid gleam in the eyes and no sympathy for the specimen whatsoever. "From what I know she only managed to chronicle a part of the Baron von Jikkingen's life, that's all. It's the extreme height of hubris for you to claim you created us, dear lady."

Shizuku opened her eyes again. "A one-track mind like yours could never understand, Doctor," she croaked. "Why did you kidnap Louise? I could never understand that, even back when Grandfather Nishi tried to explain it to me."

The Black Cat blinked her eyes repeatedly. When she answered, the humans knew it was Louise who was talking, and not the Doctor.

"He is jealous, Shizuku. He wanted..." The Black Cat stopped talking and sat there, her body rock-still. The conflict of wills inside her was expressed in the quick succession of emotions that chased each other across her face.

"_Gott im Himmel!_ You must forgive the Baroness. She can be very rude at times."

"What did you want, Doctor?" Seiji prompted.

"All in due time, young fellow, all in due time," the Black Cat said, recovering some lost confidence and leaning back in the seat. "I would like the Baron to be here, before I explain how things stand to all of you. In the meantime, please tell your wife to stop trying to use her magic here, will you? There's no way she can defeat my anti-magic machinery." The cat gave a malicious little titter. "And I wouldn't want her to die without giving von Jikkingen a chance to watch her doing so."

------oOo------

They fought their bitter way down to Phaecis' main hall, to where the only entrance/exit to the Black Cat's lair was located. They suffered a lot of wounds, and would have slain a lot of pirates on their journey, if they hadn't come across a robot carcass lying in the corridor—the apparent victim of one of the other Stormy Cat sabotage teams—and one of the commandos with them hadn't examined it, and had the brilliant idea of pulling the canisters from the automaton's catnip-chemical spraying system and using them against the pirates. The other Stormy Cats with them weren't concerned about being affected by the substance, as their retrieved kit included masks, since they had been originally fragged to use gas and smoke grenades themselves in their bid to cause confusion and chaos within the pirate lair; Muta, by his own admission, was only sensitive to catnip for a very short time (despite the tales Toto tried to sell back at the Cat King's Castle), and the Baron was totally immune to it, since he wasn't really a cat. So they made free use of the spray, filling the corridors they were to pass though with the misty aerosol, and then clonking the cat pirates they found twitching on the floor on their collective bonce and tying them up with the incredibly sticky tape Baron had stored in his carpetbag for such an occasion. The dogs were a different matter altogether; with them it was fight, fight, fight, and there was no way around it.

But in the end, wounded and tired, they managed to win their way through to Phaecis' main hall, and the primary entrance to it now lay in sight.

Haru, breathing heavily and almost at the end of her endurance, looked at the doors and the line of guards strung across it like a welcoming committee.

"Just a couple of more foes," she panted. The sting and burn of her various wounds she forgot in the heat of the moment, in the anticipation of reaching their goal. She was about to charge them herself when Muta held up a paw.

"I'll handle this," he said, walking forward to the guards. The gas canisters they had salvaged had run out a few minutes back.

Not a single one of them could hear the few words Muta said to the pirates, but whatever they were, they made the guards scream and yell and disappear into the hall.

The giant cat rubbed his paws in satisfaction as he returned to his friends.

"What in the world did you say?" the Baron asked, mystified.

"Nothing. I just told them who I was."

"Aw, shucks. We were hoping you'd leave some for us, Renaldo Moon," joked one of the bemused Stormy Cats.

There was a loud grumbling, and a flood of pirates emerged from the hall, filling the wide corridor with their hostile presence.

Muta blanched underneath his dirtied cream fur. "Well, there you go, be my guest," he told the commando. "I'm not greedy. They're all yours."

"How can we ever repay you?" said another Stormy Cat as he blankly stared into the toothy throng.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll think of something."

They were getting ready for the fight of their lives when a voice behind them shouted, "Baron! Renaldo!"

Everyone in the little group turned. "Edeline! What are you doing here?"

The Captain, in her torn velvet uniform, separated from the group she was leading and surged up to them on her metal legs. "I'm here for revenge!" she shouted, looking past them at the members of the pirate gang. "These good-for-nothings killed most of my crew. Now I'm going to take their lives as payment!"

The crowd of felines behind her murmured in agreement. Some of them were the survivors of the _Longshallows;_ others were stragglers from the battlefield who had somehow managed to survive the onslaught of robots and the gas and joined up with her, displaced and lost infantry and cavalry riders.

"Captain Loriel, calm yourself," the Baron whispered evenly, as the two sides started to pin their ears back and bare fangs and growl and hiss. "They can pay for their crimes in a court of law. It's not necessary for you to kill them."

The Captain turned her cold, fish-white eyes on him. "Leave me to my grief, von Jikkingen, and I'll leave you to yours." Her voice became almost inaudible. "Use us as a distraction to get inside the Black Cat's lair."

The Baron stared at her for a long time. Then he nodded.

"Forward!" Loriel shouted, brandishing her rapier. "To battle!"

And the huge fight began. It was a milling, bloody affair fought deep in the earth, furry body pressed against furry body, sword against sword, spear against spear, axe against axe. There were a few shots fired, but the close quarters rendered firearms highly unsuitable, and these quickly stopped as the fighters exchanged their muskets and pistols for hand-to-hand weapons.

Baron blocked a number blows with his sword-cane and pulled Haru after him. Beside them, Muta laid about himself with a captured rifle, like a farmer at threshing time, and foe after foe fell to him as sheaves of grain to a scythe.

Loriel was also pushing her way through the fight, trying to assist the Baron through the crowd. When they finally reached the door to Phaecis' hall she stopped short.

"This is where our paths diverge, Baron," she said over the din. "I know you're not going to kill the Black Cat, despite what you told Lune and Gabriel. I can see it in your eyes."

"So why don't you stop me? Or why don't you come with me and do it yourself? You _are_ King Lune's vassal."

"I am no one's vassal. If I chose to serve Lune, it was of my own free will." Her eyes flicked back into the crowd. "Besides, I have my own fate to meet here. Good luck."

"Thank you, Loriel." The Cat tipped her his hat, and the Captain managed a small curtsey before plunging back into the fray.

Muta watched as Edeline started to trade blows. "Baron, I know I promised to help you with Louise... but I can't just leave her to fight by herself."

The Cat looked up at his long-time associate. "Then I release you from your promise. I'll see you later, Muta."

"Yeah. Likewise." Muta smiled down at the couple and waded into the conflict with his musket-club.

The Cat turned and looked down the long, empty hall, past the huge table laden with food of every description, to the open, unlit tunnel waiting behind the throne at the other end. "That leaves just us, Haru. Will you come with me?"

"I will come with you, Baron. It's the end of the road for us, but it may just be a new beginning for you."

They looked long and deep into each other's eyes, and then, still holding hands, still tired and sweaty and blighted with a hundred little wounds, took off running, heading for the darkness, hoping somehow to find the light beyond it.

* * *

**Author's Postscript:** The lines in German are from Goethe's _Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre._

_Knowest thou the land where the lemon-trees bloom?  
The golden oranges glow in the dark foliage,  
A soft wind hovers from the blue sky,  
The myrtle is still and the laurel stands tall—  
Dost thou know it well? Thither, thither  
I would go, O my beloved, with thee!_


	26. Reunion

REUNION

Just before Machida ran off with Moon and Luna that day, in a certain part of Yokohama, a 14-year-old girl dressed in a pink pullover, loose jeans and rubber-soled canvas shoes waited anxiously in a small café for a certain someone. She looked at her Docomo cell phone for the umpteenth time that day, and took another sip of her second frappucino. _It's a good thing Mom doesn't know where I really am,_ she thought. _She thinks I'm working with my classmates on that science project. Boy, will she _ground_ me if she ever finds out._

The bell hanging on the front door of the establishment tinkled as someone opened it. She looked up.

It was a young man of indeterminate age, also dressed casually, and sporting a floppy Yomiuri Giants baseball cap that didn't quite hide an unusual haircut consisting of straight bangs and shoulder-length hair. His piercing gaze skewered her eyes, and he did not look very happy.

"Hi, Haku!"

"I'm sorry I'm late, Chihiro," Nigihayami Kohakunushi apologized as she waved him to the seat opposite hers. "But I had a little run-in with the Sumidagawa on my way here. Please, don't ever ask me to gate in around here ever again. You may think the water's clean, but it's not!"

"Sorry. It's an emergency."

"Oh?"

"Well, actually I think they want you more than me." She gave him her cell phone, and he read the message.

"Oh, so that's what all the commotion in Aburaya was about. I was wondering why Zeniiba was there."

"She was?"

"Yes. She left quickly with her sister in tow, and asked me if I could come with them. I had just received your summons, so I had to choose." He handed her cell phone back. "Looks like I didn't need to."

"Grandma Yu-baaba left with her? That's unusual. Well, let's follow in their footsteps, then," urged Chihiro Ogino, standing up.

"Wait. I don't think you should come with me on this one."

"Why not?"

"Because you've got school tomorrow. And I sort of had the impression from Zeniiba that it was dangerous."

"That didn't stop me before, why should it stop me now? And before you even ask, I already did all my homework."

"Chihiro..."

"No 'buts,' Haku. You're not leaving me behind this time."

"Well, you left me the last time. Turnabout's fair play."

"No!"

They stopped talking as they became aware of the other people in the café looking at them. Sheepishly Chihiro called for a waitress and paid her bill, offering what was left of her drink to the river spirit.

Haku took it from her and his lips slowly closed around the straw. Chihiro nervously fiddled with her phone and tapped her feet against each other under the table. _I wonder if he knows about contact kisses,_ she thought bashfully. _'Cause he's never let me kiss him, and yet I have the feeling he's teasing me with them sometimes. _She sighed inwardly. _Maybe I'll get to know when I'm older._

When Haku had finished the drink he threw the empty container into the trash. "Okay, I'm taking you with me," he acceded. "But you'll do as I say, or I'm sending you back instantly, got it?"

Chihiro grinned. "It's a deal," she said, and they hurriedly left the café. Finding an empty street nearby, Haku motioned for the young girl to get on his back and told her to hang on. As soon as he had changed shape, he and Chihiro became invisible to the eyes of men, and he took off into the bright blue sky, heading for parts unknown.

------oOo------

"Nausicaä! Stop!"

The wind-rider paused in her brisk walk and looked behind her.

"Kushana? How—what are you doing up at this hour?"

"I should be the one asking that question," said the Queen-Regent of Torumekia. "One of the guards told me he saw you heading for the hangars fully dressed. Where are you going, Nausicaä? You and Asbel have only been in Tolas a day, and now you're leaving?"

"I need to go, Kushana," the Child of the Wind said quietly. "It's important. What about you? Why are you awake?"

For a moment a haunted look surfaced on the Regent's face. "I was visiting my mother in her room," she said quietly.

Nausicaä reached out and squeezed Kushana's shoulder. "Sorry. To tell you the truth, I need to go somewhere... far away," she admitted.

Fine eyebrows lifted in the dim glow of the palace night lights. "The one you keep trying to invite me to?"

"Close, but not exactly that one."

Kushana perked up. "I'll go with you."

"No, you've got a kingdom to run."

"Girl of the Wind, you've been pestering me about this 'other place' of yours for the longest time, and now that I want to come with you, you won't let me." Kushana frowned. "Make up your mind."

Nausicaä sighed, but a little smile broke out on her face. "Alright, you can come with us. But I'm leaving soon. Now, in fact."

"Wait! At least let me get dressed!" Kushana looked down at her plain white shift. "And let me inform Senei and Kurotowa."

Nausicaä chuckled as her gaze followed that of her friend's. "Oh, Kushana. It won't hurt you to dress up a little. Even in nightwear. You are Torumekia's leader, after all."

"Correction, I'm only its caretaker," replied Kushana, giving Nausicaä a significant look. She raised her arms. "And I've grown used to this. What's the use of dressing up to sleep? I mean, who'd see me, anyway?"

"Eherm."

Kushana spun around. "Kurotowa?"

"I was doing the rounds, Your Highness," her aide replied sardonically, "and when the guard in your wing told me you'd gone after Nausicaä, I went looking for you." The man with the thin mustache, the mordant set to his lips, and the golden circlet on his brow looked pointedly at his superior's clothing.

Suddenly feeling mightily self-conscious, the Viper turned away from him. "I'm leaving for a while," she said haughtily, to cover her embarrassment. "You and Senei are in charge until I return."

"Where are you going, Highness?"

Kushana was about to say, "I don't know," but thought the better of it. "With her," she answered, nodding her head in Nausicaä's direction. "Nausicaä?"

The wind-rider had gone still and silent. Her eyes were open, but it seemed as though she were looking at something only she could perceive.

"Nausicaä?"

"Hmm? Oh. Kushana, you _do_ have to come with us."

"You're changing your mind again? I'll never understand you."

"You're not the only one who has to come," Nausicaä continued.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain. We have a little more time now." Nausicaä looked sad as she said it. When she had finished Kushana and Kurotowa dashed off, one to get dressed and the other to summon General Senei and several of the senior staff—never mind the fact that it was early in the morning, the sun hadn't risen yet and he'd probably get shouted at despite his ranking position. Kurotowa was immensely happy and let out an uncharacteristic whoop as he ran down the open corridor. Kushana heard him and smiled to herself. _Fool,_ she thought affectionately.

Nausicaä watched them go, then turned and continued on her way to the hangars of the new Tolas palace. She hadn't gotten far when a shadowy figure emerged from behind one of the fat pillars supporting the vaulted corridor roof.

"Why are you bringing her along?" it asked.

"Asbel?" The young man emerged into the light, already in his thick brown flying garb, fur-lined boots and metal-studded leather helmet.

Prince Asbel of Pejite looked at his brown-haired traveling companion. "I heard you, Nausicaä. Do you really have to bring Kushana with us?"

The Princess of the Valley of Wind lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. She will be needed, where we're going. I know you don't like her..."

"Let's forget for now that's she's the killer of Rastel," said Asbel flatly. "The thought of leaving this kingdom without a leader makes me uneasy."

"Everything will be alright, Asbel." Nausicaä walked up to him and placed a hand over his heart. "You'll see. Everything will be alright."

"I hope you're right. They don't call it the Pit of Vipers for nothing."

------oOo------

And even earlier than when Chihiro had met Haku...

Cool breezes swept the mountainside as the steam-driven car putt-putted up the incline leading to a certain farm some miles beyond the outskirts of the town known as Gondoa. Spying a young man working in the fields on the other side of the rock fence lining the road, one of the car's passengers told the driver to stop the vehicle, and alighted as soon as it did.

She saw that the young man had stopped turning the soil and was looking her way with a curious expression on his face. "Heeey! Pazu, how are you?" she greeted him.

"Dora? What the blazes are you doing here?"

"Going off on a brand-new adventure, my boy!" The stout woman with the white braided hair and white ruffled blouse and pink baggy pants leaned against the rock fence surrounding Pazu's farm. Her sons grinned from within the car behind her at their old chum. "We were in the area looking for you and heard of a fabulous stash of treasure. Want to come along? There's a lot of money in it."

"Gee, I'd love to." The black-haired young man in the overalls and cloth cap looked towards the farmhouse standing at the other edge of the field, the one he had raised with his own two hands. "But Sheeta'd never forgive me if I went gallivanting again."

"Relax! Take her too. C'mon, I see you've harvested your crops already. It can't hurt to leave the farm for a while. Besides," the old woman said confidentially, "you can't really be serious about hiding here from Muska's family. I mean, if we could find you here, they could too."

"I know. But this is the best Sheeta and I can do..." Pazu remorsefully looked away, into the westering sun. He wanted so much for the girl he adored, wanted to be able to clothe and feed her like the queen she was, but times were hard, here and at Slag's Ravine as well. She never complained, she never said a word of recrimination or regret, but still... When he had told her so she had simply put her work-worn hands on his slumped shoulders and turned him around. "Pazu," she said, leaning her forehead against his, "I don't need riches. As long as we're together and living decently, I'm happy. I keep telling you that, but you never listen. But I do need you. I don't think I'll be able to go on living if something happened to you..." Lusheeta Toelle ul Laputa had tilted her face forward and kissed him then.

"Auntie... could you wait a moment?" he asked, snapping himself out of his reverie, his voice carefully neutral.

Dora smirked. She knew the look of someone who was hedging his bets. "Sure, sure. Take your time."

Pazu slowly backed away, still staring unbelievingly at her fat presence in this remote outskirt of Gondoa. Then he tripped over his own hoe, and when he rose again, he turned and took off like a rocket towards the farmhouse. "Sheeta!" he yelled over and over. "Sheeta!"

A small orange head popped out from in between Dora's sons. "Please, we have to hurry."

"You can't rush these things. But don't worry, he's been caught, hook, line and sinker," the old woman replied confidently. She turned. "Now, little cat, what was that you were saying about being one of Sheeta and Pazu's great-grandsons?"

Cameron looked up at the suspicious faces suddenly surrounding him and swallowed. _Darn Toto,_ he thought. _If only he could've stayed with me._

"I... aheheheh," he chuckled nervously. "Let's keep that our little secret, okay?"

Pazu, upon reaching the house, discovered the front door was ajar. He slowly pushed it in, and who should be standing on the other side but Sheeta, looking at him in a way that made him feel guilty about talking to Dora and even considering her offer.

"Sheeta?"

"Well, beloved," she asked, "where are you going this time?"

Pazu suddenly realized by the windburn on her cheeks that she had not been working in the small barn, as he had supposed. She had been somewhere outside. She had seen him talking to Dora, and had guessed what it was all about.

"I'm not sure. But you're coming with me."

The girl with the long plaited hair blinked. "What? B-but who's going to take care of the farm? The cows? The chickens?"

"We'll ask Mrs. Anders down the road to look after it while we're gone. She owes us anyway. Well, don't just stand there, grab your things!"

Sheeta stared blankly at him for a moment, then laughed joyfully and hugged him. She picked up her skirts and ran into the bedroom to gather a few belongings. Most importantly, the bronzed metal one working among the climbing beans in the backyard garden.

------oOo------

"That is my story, O Princess of Wolves. Will you come and help?"

The naked young woman placing her newly-washed clothes on the riverside boulders to dry looked at Toto. "I would come, crow. But I have not the means."

"I do."

San the Mononoke-hime nodded. "Then I will let you lead me and my brothers."

One of the large white wolves waiting on the fringes of the forest trotted to her. She took the white pelt hanging from its back and wrapped it around herself.

"Ashitaka?" the wolf growl-spoke.

"Leave him. He's much too busy with Tatara-ba and that accursed Eboshi."

"Why are you so angry at him, San? You frolic around like playful cubs, then you shriek like squabbling boars at one another. It's most unseemly."

"I don't care. His attitude towards Eboshi irks me. The people of Tatara-ba may need to live, but they're destroying the forest again."

"Humans never learn, San. Haven't _you_ learned that yet?"

San lowered her gaze. "No. Probably because I'm a human myself, and let him enter my heart..."

"Be that so, I will always treat you as my sister. Come, let us return to the den. Your clothes will be safe enough in the meantime. Follow us if you will, crow."

Toto nodded at the canid. It was a good thing he had talked to Ashitaka earlier, he thought as he leapt off the moss-covered branch he had been sitting on and took flight.

------oOo------

In the end a small crowd had gathered outside the Cat Business Office. Fanciful and fantastic—those were merely two of the words Machida found to describe them. The rest seemed to have dribbled out of his slack-jawed mouth as he stood there trying to comprehend what was happening to him without going crazy. For some bizarre reason he found that he could understand what everyone was saying, even though some of them didn't look the type who would speak Japanese at all.

"Are you alright, Machida-san?" the kindly woman standing beside him asked. She was in her forties, had straight black hair tied in a ponytail, and wore a knitted shawl over her pale-yellow blouse. She had on gray slacks and black pumps.

"Y-yes, Mrs. Kusakabe," he managed to stutter. "Although I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here."

"Well, I know what I'm doing here," Yasuko Kusakabe said. "When the little cat showed up at the house asking for help, I knew I could prove useful. You see, I've been ill for a long time, and I know how to take care of sick people. What about you?"

"Well... I'm supposed to rescue my girlfriend, from what I can gather."

"Oh? You mean your girlfriend's in trouble, and you didn't know?"

Machida wanted to shrink inside himself. "But she never told me..."

"Okay, head count," said one of the beings, an old crone with hideously exaggerated features. She was wearing a blue dress and lots of jewelry, rings and necklaces, faceted earrings and a big red jewel at her neck. Her white hair was done up in a tight bun. "Some have decided to go on ahead, and I'd like to know who's here. Tanuki?"

"None," replied Cameron, who was standing beside her. "Some are at the Cat King's Castle, but I don't know why."

"Taeko Okajima?"

"Nope. She and Toshio-san said they couldn't come. They have an... unusual problem at their safflower farm."

"Howl?"

"Couldn't come."

"Angel?"

"Oh, come on, Zeniiba," groused another old woman standing to her left, her mirror image except for the scowl plastered on her face. "No one can find her. She comes and goes as she pleases, you know that."

The old woman named Zeniiba looked a bit miffed. Her enormous nose quivered, as if questing for something. "Wait! Where's Kaonashi?"

"Over here!" called a cheerful voice, and everyone looked as two girls, one in a pale-green jumper and the other in a yellow dress, ran into the plaza from one of the roads leading out of it.

"He's with us!" the older child said, while her younger sister peered curiously into the windows of a nearby house. A moment later the shadowy black bulk of Kaonashi came into view.

Mrs. Kusakabe called for her daughters to come to her. Kaonashi followed, and Mrs. Kusakabe smiled up at him and said, "Thank you for looking after Mei and Satsuki."

The being wearing the kabuki-like mask with the blank expression replied with a slow, dignified bow and plodded to Zeniiba's side.

"Mei likes this place!" the younger child said, looking up at her mother. "So full of dollhouses!"

"Well, you can't play with them, people live in them. So behave yourself while I'm away, understand?"

"Yes, _okaa-san!_"

"Well, now that that's settled," said Zeniiba, clearing her throat. "Chihiro and Haku have gone on ahead..."

When her surname was called, Mrs. Kusakabe answered and pointed out the young man standing beside her. The count was quickly over after that, and after saying a few words to them all, the old hag directed them to ride in the strange animal-vehicle standing near Toto's pedestal in all its furry orange glory.

Mrs. Kusakabe released her hold on her daughters. "Okay, we have to leave. You go to Luna and Kanta now."

"Yes, mother," said Satsuki. "Don't worry, I'll look after Mei. Hey, you, come back! Don't sit on that!"

As Satsuki ran off after her sister, Mrs. Kusakabe looked at Luna, who was sitting nearby. "Good luck."

"Oh, no, it's going to be no problem at all," said the black cat happily. "It's been ages since I've played with human children. Don't worry about them. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun."

Everyone boarded the Nekobus, and just before it was about to take off Mei ran up beside it and shouted, "_Okaa-saaan!_ _Ki wo tsukete, neh?_" in her strident voice, which was surprisingly loud, coming from such a small throat. "Mom! Take care, okay?"

"Of course, dear. You watch your sister. Don't let Kanta kiss her."

"Whaaaat?" wailed Satsuki as she and their neighbor and friend blushed. "Mother!"

"I was just kidding," said Mrs. Kusakabe, giggling. "Bye now."

The Nekobus turned away from the commotion, and its signboard changed to read 'Cat Kingdom.' Then, with a chest-rumbling purr and a wide smile, it took off and left the realm of the Cat Business Office behind.


	27. The Baron's Winter

_Ellenlome_, thanks for giving this the once-over. I changed it a bit, though, so I might have introduced more errors.

* * *

THE BARON'S WINTER

When the Cat and Haru had first entered the Doctor's lair she had offered them tea and scones, of all things. Then the Baron proceeded to play a game of 'keeping the civilized veneer up' with her. One of the things Haru remembered about the rather inconsequential conversation was the cat nobleman asking "Why did you need Louise's body?" as Shizuku had done before.

The Black Cat had set her down her teacup, looked the Baron in the eye, and said, "Can't you still get it, you moronic piece of fantasy? Immortality! I wanted the immortality you had been created with!" She turned to the seated Haru and Shizuku, who had been released from her cell along with Seiji and, still bloodstained and weak, been forced to join them at the table.

"I was a real cat, and we all lived in the same town," she told them. "Day by day I would pass by the shop where they were being made and marvel at the effort and obvious _love—_" she spat the word out like a rotting piece of meat "—that their maker was pouring into them. He even got sick for a while because of the effort he put into them, did you know that? Finally they were given souls, and I watched them walk and talk. How I longed to be like them, so graceful and charming!"

"But the people of that town were cruel! They thought of an alley cat as nothing more that something to curse and kick and throw stones at! Finally I had had enough. I had heard that the best revenge against ignorant people was an education, so I set out to make something of myself. I learned. I snuck into libraries at night and read whatever I could before dawn came. I attended lectures, sitting out of sight on the rafters. I took tests with the schoolkids, by lying on the windowsills and looking at the papers and listening to them check their answers. Finally I worked up the nerve and presented myself to a schoolteacher, who was kind enough not to turn me away despite my not having anything in the world except the fur on my back. He taught me, and when he could teach me no more he gave me a legacy and enrolled me in university. My fortune turned good then, and my fame soon grew. I was a teacher of note in physics and robotics in that institution when the Baron and Baroness came back into my life."

The Black Cat paused, like someone listening to an inner voice. "Louise wants to tell you about the horrible experiments that got me censured and eventually kicked out. No, my dear, not even you know the whole truth. When I saw them again, I noticed they hadn't aged at all. I grew envious of that—though I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised, having been privy to their creation—and wondered if a mortal like myself couldn't break my own bonds with time. So I tried to find out.

"There will always be those fools in any institution of learning who decry those making strides towards the future. They will claim that those pioneers' work is against the laws of God, that it is too horrible, that it involves the Devil's influence or some such nonsense. I had laughed at their weak-minded sentimentality then, but they managed to get my work noticed by those higher up in the Assembly. When I could have been working on my precious project, I was forced to turn away from it and defend what I was doing. Think of it! I said to the Assembly when it summoned me to a hearing. No one will ever have to live in fear of death anymore! Parents will no longer have to suffer the deaths of their children!

"And the Assembly, that great mass of learning I once admired, turned its sonorous voice upon me, and said, And if no one dies any more, what will happen to us? Will you fill the earth to overflowing with our countless numbers? Will children cured by your process be cursed to stay as children forever? Will old ones remain old throughout eternity?

"In despair, for I already knew the tide was turned against me, I shouted, 'I don't know! That's why I'm studying it!' But they didn't listen to me: their minds, it seemed, were already made up. And so I was expelled from the position I had worked so hard to attain. What sayest thou, Baron?"

Haru, Seiji, and Shizuku all turned to the Cat, who said, "I had nothing to do with that, though I heard that news. I was only at the university as a guest speaker on magical appliances at that time." He looked up at the Black Cat. "That still doesn't explain why you kidnapped Louise."

"I'm getting to it. After I had been forced to remove my things under the watchful eye of guards, like some thief, I left the town and set up my own little laboratory in the countryside, using what was left of my mentor's legacy. There I managed to continue my work. At that point I was already so consumed by it I subsisted on little more than bread and cheese and a little meat, when I could get it. I forwent a social life, all the little amenities of existence, because I knew time was running short.

"You all know that the life span of a cat is very short compared to that of a human's. It is so even in that place. I was already quite old when I made what I thought was my final breakthrough. In the interval I had gained an assistant, an urchin I plucked off the streets of the town, and proposed with him to make the final, ultimate test of my research. I planned to lock myself inside my stasis chamber, as I called it, and spend the next ten years evading the effects of aging. I turned my tiny estate over to him, and told him to revive me after a decade. The boy agreed, and I spent the next ten years in a dreamless sleep.

"But when he did wake me up, I found that I had been terribly wrong. My work had not stopped the advance of time, it had only slowed it down. When I looked at myself in the mirror I was a decrepit wreck. I recommenced my research immediately, and quickly developed two more things: a pill that would return me to youth for a short while, and another method of staving off age. But all my work in that field was cast to the winds when my assistant and I took a trip into town and saw—yes, I saw the Baroness von Arno then, and she looked the same as she ever did. She was still charming, and youthful, and beautiful." The Black Cat's ears seemed to color somewhat. "An idea hit me as I looked upon her: what if I could transfer myself to a body like hers, which never aged? I had already developed a method of encasing souls in little blue gems a colleague of mine in the university had developed for catching ghosts and specters; it was my research on these that also played a part in my being expelled. Within a week I had developed a risky, untried theory, and also a plan to acquire her. I took one of my insect creations, went to her abode, and kidnapped her by injecting her with a tranquilizer I had developed specially for her and you, Baron." She returned to addressing the humans. "He was getting married to her at the time, so naturally when he learned from her servants of my actions, he swore to find me at all costs and set out to hunt me down. I laid low in my laboratory and did my work on Louise. She was a very difficult subject to experiment on. She was a fine swordswoman, and always tried to escape at the slightest opportunity. Eventually I grew tired of having to watch over her the whole time and developed my anti-magic devices, one of which is on the wall there." The Black Cat pointed. "When I placed her in it and turned it on, it forced her to become a statue again, and my troubles were solved. I have no doubt that it will have the same effect on you, Baron."

The teacup in the Baron's hand trembled. "You _animal,_" he murmured, a murderous look in his eyes. "So you did torture her."

"Unfortunately, yes." The Black Cat spoke in a blasé manner. "Sometimes as a punishment for trying to escape, and at other times the pain was an inevitable part of experimentation. I did bear my share of it, you know."

The Baron was speechless.

"I made the final gamble three months after I had captured her. I operated on her, and on myself as well. I placed my soul in a crystal, which I then had my assistant implant beside your fiancée's beating heart, Baron. The procedure was wanton, reckless tomfoolery, but I had nothing to lose. If it failed, I was going to be dead anyway. Then he activated a complex series of cantrips and spells I had bought from a sorcerer and prepared. You have no idea how vindicated I felt when I woke up in Louise's body."

"And you have no idea how disgusted I am with you, Doctor," Shizuku voiced. "You are a scumbag of the lowest order. Why didn't you spare her the agony and just kill her?" The Baron turned, and for a moment his eyes and Shizuku's met, and an understanding passed between them. The Cat kept his peace; the writer returned her attention to their collective foe.

"Because if I had removed her soul her body would have instantly died. That is one of the few immutable rules of magical creations." The thief and assassin sighed. "Many times over the years I have tried to find a way to separate her and leave myself in here—" she pointed to her breast "—but I've never found one."

"How did you get to the Cat Kingdom?" Haru asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because in a way you're responsible for the craziness King Lune's father put me through."

"After the operation I spent years getting used to this new body. I found that I needed medicines during my convalescence, so I turned to using this body's physical prowess and stealing what I needed. It was so much easier than trying to earn a pittance. I grew used to that way of life and never looked back."

"Probably because your conscience couldn't handle it if you did," Seiji said accusingly. The Black Cat shot him a sharp look.

"Pontificate all you want, boy, but after spending a lifetime trying to acquire immortality, I wasn't going to let anything impede my pleasure in it. But one thing _did_ try to interfere: the Baron von Jikkingen, who never stopped trying to pursue me. He and I had a few brushes with each other in the past, but we never set eyes on one another after I had taken up residence in Louise's body. I grew so annoyed that I tried to look for him in his residence in town so I could kill him, but I found out that he had moved by then. To where no one knew.

"After I had accumulated a fair amount of money I decided to move away, to avoid his further attentions. I said goodbye to my assistant, packed what few things I wanted to bring along, then traveled to the Cat Kingdom, where I presented myself to King Lune's father, hoping to curry his favor and find some employment. I'm sure he doesn't remember his short audience with me. I had not taken to wearing black yet, but I had already cut my hair short, as you see it.

"When Lune's father refused my generosity, I traveled for a while, but I found his realm boring. The people were oppressed, and the court was a mass of fawning bootlickers. What few intellectuals there were did not share my interests, and were much too busy trying to stay out of the volatile and fickle King's way than do anything to ruffle the surface of the waters.

"Out of sheer boredom, and because my finances were once again becoming dangerously depleted, I returned to my life of crime. Then in New Lorum I had a chance meeting with one of Phaecis' boys, and he recruited me into the gang. I set about learning their ways, and after I had clawed my way to the top and began calling myself the Black Cat I convinced him to help me build my mechanical army, in case there was ever a need to defend the island.

"He agreed to help me, and I set to work at once. Or crime sprees here and in the other kingdoms helped to finance our construction, as did our other activities, like weapons smuggling, money laundering, and assassinations.

"So here you see me, in my position of power and security, and yet you and your allies tried to knock me down, because of your self-righteousness. Why should I not treat you with contempt? Especially you, von Jikkingen."

Seiji shook his head sadly. "You're missing the whole point," he said in mock pity. "But why should I be surprised? Villains always did have dysfunctional heads."

The Black Cat stood up from her seat, walked up to Seiji, and gave him a kick that sent him sprawling to the floor. Then she ordered Ayuma to return him to his cell and cut off his air supply.

"No!" Shizuku leapt up from her chair, but the Black Cat quickly whipped out her smallsword and pointed it at her throat, forcing her to sit back down. "Don't hurt him! Please! You told me you wanted this body of mine. I promise I'll cooperate with you! I won't give you any problems! Only don't hurt him!"

The Black Cat watched her henchman toss Seiji back into the glass-walled enclosure, and turned to smile lazily at Shizuku. "Tough. He's the most annoying human I've come across in the past few years."

Ayuma turned a few valves at the base of the contraption, and after a minute or so Seiji sat down and began showing signs of having difficulty breathing. Shizuku could only sit there and beg as he began to cough, then choke.

"No! Seiji! Please, don't do this!"

"Sorry. Ayuma, go get me a croissant and some egg and bratwurst from Phaecis' table, please. And see how that fracas in the antechamber is going."

"Yes, ma'am." The lanky Abynissian left the room.

The Black Cat lowered her sword, and Shizuku tried to stand up and run to Seiji. The cat backhanded her, and she fell back into her chair.

Placing a high-heeled boot on her thigh to prevent her from moving, the Black Cat forced Shizuku to look at up at her with her hand. She then ran a finger under her chin. "I hope you retain your powers when I transfer myself to you," she said. "I want to see what it feels like to have magic, which I've never had. And you're not so bad-looking, Lady Amasawa. I shall enjoy exploring your body, the way I did Louise's." The finger left Shizuku's chin and wandered lower, to the hollow of her throat and the upper part of her chest.

That was when the Baron sprang from his chair and seized the Black Cat's offending hand, not heeding the sword in the other, that in an instant was held at his throat. Haru gasped and stood up, unsheathing her own weapon and pointing it at the Black Cat's heart.

"Don't touch her," Humbert von Jikkingen said, in a quiet voice that sent chills through Shizuku and Haru. "Don't you dare touch her. You took my Louise from me, and now you want to do the same with her. It will be a cold day in hell before that happens. Shizuku, go and free Seiji. Go. She won't stop you."

Hesitatingly Shizuku pushed the Black Cat's foot off her and followed the Baron's commands as the two continued to stare each other down. She limped towards the cell and opened the valves, then the door. A half-asphyxiated Seiji tumbled out of confinement into her arms, and she gently lowered him into a sitting position on the floor, leaning him against the base of the structure while he sought to regain his wind and wits.

The Black Cat tried to bat away Haru's sword, but the young lady just repositioned it over her chest when she did so. "Why are you so angry, Baron? Could it be that you're jealous about the fact that I know Louise's body better than you do? Oh, she could never hide the truth from me. You've never even slept with her, for all your posturing worldliness."

There was the tiniest suggestion of embarrassment in the Baron's voice as he answered. "No, I haven't," said he with a sidelong glance at Haru. "You may know all there is to know about her physical form, but that gets boring after a while, doesn't it? You'll never have her spirit. You have immortality, but with your envy and avarice you'll never have the happiness you seek. You'll never be like me, or Louise."

"Baroness!" yelled a voice from the other end of the chamber. It was Ayuma, standing at the entrance to the tunnel, carrying a big platter. She looked for a moment at the situation, then shrugged and walked towards them. "The fighting's still going on," she reported nonchalantly, "and it's spread to the hall. It's a shame about those lobsters." As she neared Haru, she suddenly stumbled. Haru instinctively tried to catch the platter as it fell. Naturally, that was when Ayuma took advantage and lashed out quickly with her sword. And the fight began.

------oOo------

It had seemed natural for her to square off with Ayuma, and for Baron to fight the Black Cat. Haru was nervous as well as tired, but she no longer listened to the voices of doubt in her mind. Nothing could be achieved by doing so any more; they were operating blindly now, trusting to sheer luck to win over their enemies.

After a tussle which seemed to last for a long time—but in reality was only a few minutes long—Haru had managed to knock out Ayuma with the pommel of her weapon, after almost getting the Abynissian's sword in her chest. She and the Baron turned their attention towards the Black Cat. The feline taunted them about how unfair it was that they were ganging up on her, but they didn't listen. The Baron was hampered by the knowledge that he was facing Louise, and that to hurt the Black Cat was to hurt her too; Haru was hobbled by her tyro status. Luck would hold, but for how long?

Shizuku and Seiji could give no help. The most the former could do was to hurl chairs at the assassin, which were easily avoided. The effort caused her to tire, though, so after only a pair she was slumped against the base of what had been her cell, chest heaving and rendered effectively _hors de combat._ Seiji stayed by her side, guarding her, and could only watch as the Baron and Haru tangled with the Black Cat.

The Baron lunged with his cane-sword, and the Doctor deftly skipped forward, the blade missing her lower back by mere centimeters.

"A good one!" she cackled, riposting against the Cat's open left flank. Her smallsword tore a small gash in the Cat's tuxedo. "Not quite good enough!"

Haru, who was at the Black Cat's other side, gasped and threw a sideways lop, not so much to hurt the criminal as to get her attention away from the Baron. The Black Cat ducked under her blade and spun sideways, catching Haru on the thigh, slicing her a bloody furrow that made the young woman cry out and drop to a sitting position on the floor, her leg muscles bunching up as the hot blood spurted out of her flesh.

"Haru!" The Baron aimed a two-handed downward blow at his opponent's back. She sidestepped it, and they began to exchange a classical flurry which forced the Cat to withdraw a little.

Haru looked down at the bright red staining her leggings and hands. The Doctor had managed to catch her where there was no armoring. _It's just a shallow cut!_ she told herself fiercely. _A measly cut! You get up and help Baron! Now!_ But no amount of bravado could drown out the pain shooting up from her flesh.

She turned her attention to see the Black Cat falling to the floor. Baron had apparently hit her with a kick, as he was just returning his right leg to the ground. Then he had to turn his attention to Ayuma, who had recovered from being stunned and was about to attack Seiji and Shizuku even though she was still groggy.

Seizing her chance, Haru pounced on the head that was near to her. She twisted and rolled and got the Black Cat in a headlock and her legs tangled up with hers. It seemed that the assassin was unused to fighting on the ground, because her counter-moves were ineffectual. Had she claws, she could've scratched Haru's face and forced her to let go. But since she and the Baron weren't made with any...

_At last!_ came a voice in Haru's mind, as the Black Cat scrabbled at her with her gloved hands. It was the same one that had frightened her in Fort Lorum. _You've got her where you want her! This is it, Haru! She doesn't deserve Baron! Kill her!_

A red haze began to color her vision, and blinded as she was by her rage and fear, Haru heeded the voice and began squeezing her arm tighter around the Black Cat's throat. _Just a little more. She doesn't deserve Baron. If you take care of her now, she won't be able to hurt you or anyone else anymore. She doesn't deserve Baron._

"You don't deserve Baron," Haru began to parrot the voice in her brain. The Black Cat coughed, her struggles to free herself growing weaker. "You don't deserve him. _I_ deserve him. You don't. You don't!" The triangle choke grew tighter.

Suddenly Haru found herself being torn away from her foe and pulled to her feet. Still mad with battle-lust, Haru fought the grip that held her, until two slaps landed on her cheeks and cleared the red haze from her eyes.

Baron was holding her by the waist with one hand, while the other was balled up in a fist.

"Are you quite through?" he asked, an icy expression in his eyes. His Abynissian foe lay stretched out on the floor behind him, unconscious, her tongue sticking out of her partially open mouth.

"I... I..." Haru put a hand to her cheek and turned away from the Baron. "I'm sorry," she blurted. "I don't know what came over me."

"Well, don't let it happen again," the Cat snapped at her. "This would all be for naught—"

A shriek coming from the tunnel at the other end of the Black Cat's chamber caused them to look. Sailing out of the unlit passage came Captain Loriel, and she landed on her back on the floor and bounced once. A spear was stuck in her chest.

They watched, stunned, as the Captain sat up and made as if to pull the spear from herself. Before she could do so, three more came flying out of the tunnel and hit her square on her trunk. With a cry of pain she fell back onto the floor.

The largest dog Haru had ever seen came walking out of the tunnel, straightening up before approaching the Captain. Another spear was in its hands, its gray fur was fluffed up, and anger—and a strange look of mingled regret and sorrow—burned in its pale eyes.

"You should have quit while you were ahead, Loriel!" it barked. "I really didn't want to hurt you, but you gave me no choice!" It stood over the prostrate cat, and buried its last weapon in the Captain's throat. She shuddered for a bit, then lay unmoving.

"Captain!" Baron and Haru exclaimed in unison, horrified. Before they could move, a large, fat white shape ran out of the tunnel and climbed straight up the dog's back. It was Muta, and he wasted no time in scratching the dog's eyes out.

"You bastard!" they heard him say as he hung on while the dog howled and twisted and tried to get his paws on him. "I'll kill you, Phaecis!"

With effort born out of desperation the Pirate King finally got his paws on Muta and flung him away. Muta landed on his feet and turned to face him.

"You murderer," he hissed. "I'll get you."

Phaecis touched his paws to his eyes and grimaced. There was blood, but at least he could still see. "I'm no murderer. She attacked me first."

"That's because your machines killed her crew!"

"Feh." The Husky assumed a ready stance as he began to circle Muta. "That's war, fattie. Don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Muta grunted. "Speaking of kitchens, when this is over I'll eat everything on your table and leave you to the worms."

"Oh, really? That's hard to imagine, considering you'll never leave this place alive."

"Bad doggy, all bark and no bite," taunted Muta. "Don't make me hit you with a newspaper."

Phaecis snarled and lunged at him.

"Let's help Muta!" Haru urged as the two began to alternately attack and defend against each other.

"Right, let me just get Louise tied up—" The Baron turned.

The Black Cat was standing in one of the open cells in the rock wall. With a baleful light in her eyes she leapt, aiming to pierce Haru through the back of the chest with her sword.

Who can say what went through the Baron's mind in that eternal instant as he watched his former fiancée bearing down on his friend and lover? There are many alleyways, many branches and pathways of thought the mind can go through in making a decision. Whatever reason the Baron had for doing what he did, no one can ever say, and he has kept his peace since.

Haru felt herself shoved to one side. She lost her balance, and as she fell she turned. She watched the two collide in mid-air, and saw Louise's sword erupt from the Baron's back in a welter of blood. The Black Cat's eyes were also wide as her chest was pierced by the Baron's cane-blade.

"No!" she screamed as the two fell to earth. "Baron!" Her cry was taken up by Shizuku, who stood up and rushed from corner of the room where they had been keeping herself and Seiji.

Haru rushed to the fallen Cat's side, ignoring the pain in her leg, the warm gush of her blood. She took him and heaved him up onto her lap, careful not to move the Black Cat's smallsword, which was still imbedded in his chest. He was strangely heavy and stiff to the touch.

"Baron," she keened, as her universe suddenly contracted into a tiny space enclosing her, the Cat, and Louise. The sounds of battle faded out, and suddenly things seemed oddly peaceful and quiet. "Baron, you idiot. Why'd you have to go and do this?"

The Cat's eyes were closed, and she feared he was already dead, until he opened them again and looked up at her.

"Haru..." he whispered. "Guess I'm getting too slow at my age."

"Oh, stop talking, will you?" she replied, her hopes flickering for an instant to life at his words. If he could still joke...

"We did it, in a way," he persisted. "We saved Louise. She'll never be hurt anymore." He sighed a little, and a gout of incarnadine blood trickled out the side of his mouth and ran down his furred cheek. "And this is my reckoning, for all I've done in my life."

"What are you talking about? Don't move," she scolded him as he raised a hand and touched the side of her face. "Maybe Shizuku-sensei can help you."

"No. Don't let her. Too dangerous." The Cat caressed her cheek. "I must ask a favor of you."

"Name it. Anything." A hand touched Haru's shoulder, and by it she knew Shizuku was kneeling beside her.

"If you..." The Baron coughed, and bright red spattered onto his ginger fur. "If you have any... love left for me, you will see to it that Louise and I... Louise and I will always be together."

Haru blinked away the tears welling up in her eyes. "I will. I will!"

"Thank you. Stop crying, both of you. You're both free now. Do as you will." The Cat dropped his hand and slowly turned to face his beloved, who was already dead. "Louise," he said, his voice almost inaudible, "I never even had the chance to say goodbye to you. My love, sleep in the winter..." Suddenly he pushed himself towards her and gave her a kiss, further impaling himself on her sword. His eyes went wide, and his body grew still. A sharp crack sounded deep inside the Cat's chest, but even though she heard it, it was a long time before Haru could bring herself to comprehend that he was gone.


	28. Shizuku's Secret

**Author's Note: **That's the problem with making a story up as you go along, and embarking on an ambitious venture with imperfect knowledge: when an excellent idea suddenly comes along and holds you entranced by its sexiness, you're hard-pressed to find a way to fit it in what you made.

This is such a chapter. The idea in it arrived late while I was writing this story (I have since scolded it and told it that being unable to jimmy Howl's door is no excuse), and I have no idea at all if it fits the milieu. What I do know is that by including it, I have probably invalidated some of what I have written before, despite my best efforts to integrate it. I apologize in advance. I will go back and revise this, my longest fanfic to date, and hopefully things will turn out better in the revision.

So now I present to you the third-to-last chapter in this... thing. It is essentially my answer to the question 'What is the relationship between Haru and Shizuku? What is _The Cat Returns_ to _Whisper of the Heart?_' I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

SHIZUKU'S SECRET

_If you will practice being fictional for a while,  
you will understand that fictional characters are  
sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats. _**  
**- Richard Bach

_In the listening quiet of your room,  
You whisper your secrets to the mirror.  
You sigh as you brush your hair,  
You shed tears as you think of your broken dreams.  
But do you ever stop to listen,  
Do you ever pause to hear,  
Do you ever cease and contemplate,  
The whisper of the mirror back.__  
_

"Baron!" Haru said imploringly as the tears trickled down her cheeks. "I didn't give you up just for this to happen to you!" She shook the dead one by the shoulders. "I'm sorry I was jealous of Louise! Come back! Don't leave me here..."

The hand at her shoulder squeezed. "Haru, don't cry. There's no need to cry."

"Why not?"

"This is a fairy tale."

"So?"

"In a fairy tale the good guys always win, and justice always triumphs."

"Sensei . .. you know, I'd hit you right now, if I didn't feel it to be disrespectful to Baron and Louise."

Shizuku let out a sigh. "I understand. But you don't, so please, before you do that, listen to me." To Haru's surprise she suddenly bent down and began to unbutton Louise's artilleryman's jacket. "She took it from me and wore it, to spite me," she explained, reaching in and producing her bluestone necklace. "Everything's my fault. Everyone who's died or been hurt . . . it's all because of me. Do you remember what I told you, back when we were still at the Cat King's Castle, about how I got here?"

Haru wiped her eyes. "Yes." Only a few weeks ago? It seemed like a year or more had passed.

Smiling a little, Shizuku lowered her voice. "I remember you wondering why Seiji and I weren't turning into cats, like you did. I'll make everything clear to you now, but you must promise never to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

Haru nodded.

"You remember what I told you about me getting sick with pneumonia in the mountains in Italy, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Haru . . . I didn't make it to the hospital."

A tiny flash of dread hollowed out the pit of Haru's belly. Her hands grew cold.

"You-you mean you're d-d-d—"

"Yes." Shizuku ignored the shocked expression—and the growing understanding—on the younger woman's face and kept talking and explaining, revealing the contents of her heart. Finally she whispered, "Whoever said that the Baron was the only person I had a hand in making?"

In that instant everything dropped into place for Haru. She knew what Shizuku was about to do with herself and the bluestone. Her hands shot out to grab the older woman.

Shizuku looked at her with mingled sadness and understanding. _You're so sweet,_ she sent into Haru's mind the instant before her fingers would've touched her. _Knowing that I caused all this, and yet you still want to save me . . . Think well of me, my dearest._

The sudden blast of magic sent Haru flying clear across the room, slamming her into the rock wall and knocking the breath out of her. She slid to the floor, momentarily stunned.

The trio of Seiji, Muta and Phaecis were interrupted in their fighting by what had happened to Haru. Turning to look at her, Muta and Phaecis completed their swings and managed to clobber each other over the head with the shafts of the spears they were using and fell unconscious to the floor. Seiji, standing near them, was unsure whether they were dead or had merely knocked each other out, but had no time to think about it, because a bright light suddenly drowned everything in whiteness.

_Seiji, I'm sorry,_ came the ghostly voice in his mind. _Please don't be angry with me._

"Why should I be angry at you, Shicchan?" he asked, turning round and round, searching for her, bewildered at her words.

_I'm going to leave you now, otto-san. Goodbye. I love you. Please tell Haru and everyone else I love them too._

Haru struggled to her feet, remembering the Baron's words. "Stop her!" she shouted. "Sensei!"

It was too late. The light vanished, and they both saw Shizuku slump over the Cat. Somehow the swords had been removed from both his chest and Louise's, and the lovers lay side by side on the stone floor, hands clasped together, along with their sheathed weapons.

Seiji could only stand where he was, uncomprehending, as Haru walked as fast as she could back to Shizuku and the Baron. She fell to her knees and picked the older woman up. Her body was pasty white and cold and heavy now, as if the death in it, long suppressed, was showing itself at last.

"Sensei," Haru said brokenly, hugging Shizuku's limp form to her. "Sensei... okaa-san..." And she wept again, this time without reservation.

------oOo------

Many things happened outside too, on that day. Full accounts and commentaries are still available in the libraries of the Cat Kingdom, and in the house of Zeniiba, but none save a few are allowed to see them. Some of the things chronicled in them include how the people on the Baron's so-called party list had arrived and swept through the remaining pirates and robots like an avenging wind and rescued King Lune, Gabriel and even the soldiers of the Cat Kingdom garrison—whom everyone had written off as dead, yet were still alive, kept in suspended animation in the Black Cat's Freezer along with the Swordmaster and the monarch; how San and Ashitaka put their differences aside and charged into the mountain along with the others so martially (and magically) inclined, to find the Baron and Louise; how Haku, in his dragon form, went berserk on the battlefield, crushing all the automatons he could reach in his white-silver coils, and how terrible his unleashed wrath was; how Rin, Sheeta, Mrs. Kusakabe, Gina Pagot, and especially Chihiro worked heroically on board the _Matatabi_ and _Conquistador,_ assisting the overworked cat surgeons as they tried to save the lives of the wounded; how Sheeta's normally placid Laputan mecha had defended the transports against the hordes of flyers that attacked them; how the pirates of the Mamma Aiuto gang, at the behest of the beloved owner of the Hotel Adriano, gave up their avarice, landed their rickety Dabohaze flying boat beside the _Matatabi,_ and turned over the medical supplies they were smuggling against _Il Duce_ Mussolini to the sailors of the Cat Kingdom; how the Crimson Pig (now belonging once more to the _Homo sapiens_ branch of the biological family tree), Donald Curtis, Pazu and Dora and her sons, aided and abetted by the headset radios engineering whiz Fio Piccolo had smuggled out of Tokyo the last time she had been there, had tried to blow open the huge door at the mountain's peak, the secondary entrance leading to the Freezer, and failed; how at the last Nausicaä arrived with Asbel in the Eftal Gunship and Kushana came in a Torumekian Royal Corvette with Kurotowa and Chikuku, Charuka and Selm, and a small section of her fanatically loyal _toriuma_-riding cavalrymen and two tanks, and how the wind-rider and Asbel finally blew the door open with the Gunship's huge rocket projectiles and the Queen-Regent of Torumekia finally sealed the victory over the Phaecis Gang by leading her men and the few remaining Cat cavalrymen onto the field and destroying the robots, which had, at the death of the Doctor, gone berserk and started attacking anyone and everyone. There was also the near-mishap of Nausicaä falling out of the Gunship's rear seat as Asbel rolled the craft inverted to avoid one of the Doctor's robotic flyers, and her brief meeting with Angel—who saved her as she did once before, by catching her in her arms as she fell out of the sky and bringing her back to Mehve on its towline behind the Gunship—but since that encounter seems to be a private one to the Child of the Wind and has no bearing on the story of the Baron and Haru, it will not be spoken of further here.

Machida was one of those who entered the mountain. His fighting skills and aggressiveness were no match for those of, say, feral San or compassionate Ashitaka, or the Lady Eboshi (even one-handed as she was) or Henri (one of Dora's sons, who had been instructed by the avaricious old hag to keep an eye out for the treasure they had come for), nor did he have any magic to defend himself with, like Zeniiba or Yu-baaba, but out of love for Haru he risked going inside. There were so many who accompanied the Princess Mononoke he had no need to fight anyway. Adding to the ease with which they penetrated the pirate lair was the general craziness of the few surviving constructs of the Doctor and the scarcity of the remaining pirates, most of whom had been slain or wounded in the battle at the antechamber.

When he burst into the Black Cat's chamber behind San, Ashitaka, Zeniiba, Kaonashi, Yu-baaba and Cameron, Machida saw her kneeling beside a body on the floor covered from feet to shoulders with a black cloak. Also in the funereal scene were those whom he would later know as the Baron Humbert von Jikkingen, the Baroness Louise von Arno, and Seiji Amasawa, who knelt at the head of the woman on the floor, crying uncontrollably. It was so solemn a scene that though his heart jumped at seeing his girlfriend alive and well, he couldn't find it within himself to approach her.

Zeniiba walked slowly to the Cat's side and knelt down. In low tones they spoke to each other. After a few minutes she got up and went back to Machida and the others. Like him, they had stopped short at the sight and refused to come nearer. All save Kaonashi, who walked to the foot of Shizuku's body and stood there like a shadowy, expressionless statue silently warning everyone else away.

"We're too late," the old witch and sorceress said. "We're too late." In hushed tones she began to explain what had happened.

------oOo------

Muta groaned and rolled, feeling the elephants dancing around in his head with their boots on. He felt the hard floor behind him and suddenly remembered Phaecis and Loriel. He opened his eyes and sat up.

He was still in the Black Cat's chamber. Sitting leaning against the wall a few feet away from him was Phaecis, who was also awake, with his paws and jaws bound. Standing guard over him were two Cat Kingdom soldiers and two human soldiers whose like he had never seen before. Only a bit of their eyes showed through their grim dull-gray ceramic armor.

A paw touched his own. He swiveled his head—slowly.

"Loriel!" he gasped, convulsively reaching up and grasping the hands of the cat standing beside him. "You're alive."

The Captain looked at him with her dead-white eyes and nodded, smiling enough to make a bit of her fangs show—not that it mattered to Muta anymore. She pointed to the bandage at her throat. Can't speak, she mimed with her paws.

"It doesn't matter!" Muta exclaimed, crushing her in a hug. "I can do enough talking for both of us!"

Loriel let out a plaintive wheeze as Muta squeezed the air out of her lungs. She rapped his head sharply and, after he had let her go, gestured for him to keep quiet. She pointed behind her.

The room was filled with people. Humans, mostly, though the Nekobus was also there. How it had managed to enter the Black Cat's chamber Muta had no idea. They seemed to be holding a meeting of some sort. Certainly someone was speaking, and everyone else had their full attention on her.

"So we must decide who to send," a voice said, continuing its speech. "It's not right that we should leave this soul lost between two worlds. Think of what _shocho_ would say if he found out."

"Heck, I think he already knows," another voice interrupted.

"Knowing him, he probably does. But how can we help her? I don't think I can," said one, a stout-bodied man in khaki flying garb and leather helmet, wearing round sunglasses that hid his eyes, and smoking a cigarette that glowed in the half-lit dimness of the room and sent tendrils of smoke up in the air.

"I can't either," said another, an old female tanuki wearing a violet-bordered silk kimono decorated with summer leaves and flowers, and with her white hair done up in a gingko-leaf hairdo. "I came to bring word from the Cat King's Castle, not go on a journey like this."

"The how I and Yu-baaba can take care of, if Sheeta and Chikuku will consent to help. Since Howl isn't here—"

"He is now," a voice called from the entrance, and everyone looked. The handsome wizard with the black hair came striding into the room with a white-haired young lady at his side.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized. Muta thought he could see several female eyes light up at his appearance. "I've been rather—busy, if you know what I mean."

"Fool!" Yu-baaba said. "You shouldn't have left until well after things in your world had ended."

"But the little cat's request was so heartfelt... Was I wrong in coming?"

"No," the first voice replied. "Forgive my sister. She's a bit grumpy since she had to split the treasure we found with Dora and Pazu and Sheeta and Lune and everyone else."

Muta heard Phaecis growl. The soldiers guarding him immediately pointed their halberds and carbines at him, and he subsided.

Standing up, the fat white cat lifted Loriel and placed her astride his neck. He was taller than the others, so he could see the center of the gathering. On a rude bier lay Shizuku, with her black cloak draped over her body like an ill-omened shroud. Four lit torches stood at the corners of her bed, and provided much of the lighting in the room. He was shocked at the sight and began to step forward, but Loriel pulled his ears and waved at him to stay where he was.

He saw a young man in casual clothing and a mangled baseball cap raise his hand. "I will volunteer," he announced in a calm voice. Immediately after he had said the words the teenage human girl in jeans and bloodstained pink shirt standing beside him spoke.

"I'm going with you."

The lad—or at least he looked like a lad—turned and faced her. "No, Chihiro. It's too dangerous."

"But—"

"It isn't for you, and you know it," a mean-looking old woman with exaggerated Salvador-Dali-esque features snarled, cutting her off. "You'd never make it through. Shizuku's mind would only swallow you up."

"Then­–then how about you, Owner, or Grandma Zeniiba?"

"We can't," answered Zeniiba. "We have to keep the gateway open for whoever goes in."

"Chikuku can help find Shizuku," said a small, bald-headed boy wearing thick brown-colored robes and a tonsure.

"No, you have to help us keep the pathway into her mind open. Even with Howl here, we will be hard-pressed."

"I can't help thinking," commented a young lady with shoulder-length brown hair and in blue garb, "that we are doing her violence by invading her mind and spirit like this. If she should choose this path, who are we to disturb her?"

"My thoughts exactly," said a man in similar clothing. He was pale-haired and standing beside her, mimicking her pose, almost like a double, only one of a different gender.

"Then would you consign her to remaining forever lost to her world and ours, Princess of the Valley of Wind, Person of the Forest?" Zeniiba asked. When the speakers remained silent, she added, "I didn't think you would. In any case, whoever goes in won't go to force her to come back if she doesn't want to. Instead, he or she will ask her a single question."

The brown-haired girl nodded. "Then I'll go."

The old woman Yu-baaba suddenly lifted her head, and even from the back Muta could see the flash of her eyes. "I think you two are the right ones for the job," she said in approval. "Haku has lived long and learned much. He is also one of the dead, even to us _kami,_ so he should remain immune to her charms. And if the one who withstood the Nothingness can't make it through to her, none of us can."

"Please." It was King Lune. He was wrapped in blankets and shivering. "Must we do this here, in this desolate place? I can offer you the hospitality of my castle, where Elder Oroku has come from."

"That is kind of you," Zeniiba said. "Yu-baaba? Howl?"

"Suits me just fine," Yu-baaba grunted. "I'd rather be somewhere cushy than here."

"I've got no problem with that," Howl agreed.

"Then we'll take you up on your offer, King Lune. In any case, we can't do the ceremony right away. We still have to gather some ingredients for our spells. Amasawa-san—buck up, stop crying and be a man—you must come with us."

"I think you should leave him to his grief," said a black-haired woman in her thirties or forties sharply. Muta would later know her as Mrs. Kusakabe. She had her arms around the weeping man's shoulders.

"Why should I go with you?" asked Seiji.

"Because if you want your wife to come back to this world, you must be the one to persuade her to do so."

"Loriel," Muta whispered, "I don't understand what's going on."

The vampire looked down at him, and with her upside-down face in his sight mouthed _Haru. Explain._

"She's okay?"

The Captain nodded.

"Thank Heaven for little mercies."

"The rest of you can go back to your homes," Zeniiba announced. "Unless, of course, you'd like to help us search for the ingredients."

"I'd like to stay, but the Hotel Adriano won't run itself for very long," answered an elegantly-dressed woman with a marked bulge to her tummy. True to the nature of the world they were in, though she was speaking rapid-fire Italian, she could be understood by everyone. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

"I too," said the man in the khaki flying suit, taking another drag from his cigarette.

"Me too," said a perky brown-headed girl in overalls. "Uncle Whiskers needs help, with those fascists being in power and bullying everyone for orders and all."

"And where Miss Fio and Miss Gina go, we go," thundered a large man with a bristling beard and moustache and a flying cap on his head and goggles covering his eyes—most of his head, actually. "Right, boys?"

"Right!" the men around him chorused.

"Whatever you do," called a tall, square-chinned man with a thin moustache and dressed in a dark-blue flying suit and brown boots, "stand downwind of us. I wouldn't want Fio to start smelling like you just because she stood too near you guys!"

"Hey!" the body of men shouted. Fio stopped them from mauling the man by simply smiling and shaking her head, and the members of the Mamma Aiuto gang were forced to swallow their pride and remain where they were. They did, however, collectively stick their tongues out at Donald Curtis.

"Naturally, I'll help look for the ingredients," said an old woman wearing a black dress and holding a deck brush in her hand. "That's what I do nowadays, anyway. And what I'll be doing for the next couple of months, considering the amount of reverse-transformation potion all you people drank."

"I'll help you, Grandma Kiki," said the young girl standing beside her. She too had her own broom and was also dressed in black.

"Lily, you can't. You know you can't miss another day of school."

"But Grandma . . . ." whined the girl.

Muta slowly made his way around and spotted Haru beside her boyfriend—her _human_ boyfriend. They were seated in a corner of a room, and Machida had his arm around her as she leaned tiredly against his shoulder, both of them listening to Zeniiba speak. She was bloodstained and battered, and he wore a very unhappy countenance.

"Uhm," the fat cat muttered to the Captain, looking pointedly in Haru's direction. "I don't think we should disturb them just about now."

He went looking for the Baron instead, and found him and Louise standing at the edge of the crowd. He gave the Cat a mighty blow to the back. "Old friend, welcome back to the land of the living!" he loudly proclaimed. That caused Zeniiba to stop talking and everyone to ponder his bulk curiously.

"S-sorry," he apologized. "Didn't mean to disturb you. Please go on."

Zeniiba started talking again. Muta turned to the Baron.

"I'm glad you're back," he said quietly. "And you must be Louise."

"Yes, I am," answered the blond-haired cat still wearing the black costume. Her voice was very gentle and melodious, but still retained a bit of Teutonic hardness. "I am very grateful for you helping Humbert come to my rescue."

"It was no problem. I haven't seen that much fighting since I was a young cat. I hope I don't see its like ever again."

"Muta . . . ." the Baron began.

"What?"

"Shizuku gave herself up so we could live again. I'm very happy to see you, but . . . I think you can understand how hard it is . . . how hard it is for us to be standing here listening to everyone talking about her . . . ." His gaze fell to the bloody tear in the middle of his waistcoat.

Muta nodded and fell silent, his mind churning as he listened to Zeniiba and the others continuing to speak.

------oOo------

_From: Haru (neko-moeeeh (a) tomo. il1. ne. jp)  
Sent: Friday, Aug. 5, 2005  
To: Naoko Yoshioka (nyoshioka037 (a) kai. nexus. co. jp)  
Subject: Hi Mom._

_Hi Mom. It's me :) Don't be confused by the different e-mail addy. I'm just writing to tell you I'm with Kei now. Please, don't worry about us any more. We're fine, but I'm not coming home just yet. He and I have some things to settle. I hope you understand._

_Love,  
Your Haru._


	29. To Bring Her Back

**Author's Note: **_Ellenlome_, you gave me the Haru avatar, here's something in exchange. Have a safe trip home.

* * *

TO BRING HER BACK

_Rainbows emerge not before, but after the rain._

"Haru, why is everyone treating Shizuku as if she's still alive, even though she's lying on a stone bed and has funeral flower arrangements around her?"

It was the morning of the third day after the battle at the island, and the vistors from the other worlds who had chosen to stay for a little while more in the Kingdom were at the Cat King's Castle, their travel having been facilitated greatly by the sorceresses' liberal use of portals. Haru had been given her old room back, while the others were billeted according to their liking, in as far as that could be accommodated.

"Because some of the cat nobility are superstitious, and King Lune had to placate them by giving her the treatment one would normally afford the dead. Otherwise, they threatened to raise a big fuss over it. She's not dead," Haru answered Muta's question from her windowside seat. They were sitting in one of the castle's tea-rooms located on the upper levels, having just finished a late breakfast with Toto, the Baron and Machida. "At least her physical body isn't anymore, thanks to Yu-baaba and Zeniiba's magic. The first thing they did when they realized what had happened was to give it life again—you were still knocked out then, I think. Then Grandma Zeniiba went after... sensei's departing spirit and tried to retrieve it and put it back in her body. According to her, sensei didn't want to return and put up a fight. Zeniiba, she fought back and something got messed up and now sensei's spirit has retreated into a world of its own, refusing to come out for fear of being dragged back here or finally being thrown into the afterlife. That's why Nausicaä-hime and Nigihayami Kohakunushi are going to try and see her, and assure her that no matter what she chooses to do, no one will ever force her again to act against her will."

"What was that 'one question' thing the old crone was talking about?"

Haru shrugged and gazed out at the countryside. "I don't know. Only Nausicaä-hime and Haku know what the question is. Zeniiba never made it very clear. I think it has something to do with Shizuku-sensei making a choice."

Muta thanked her for the explanations and left the room. He hurried to the elevators and went down to the ground floor. He had to see Loriel, because she was leaving for New Lorum in the afternoon. She had announced her retirement from being the Mistress of the Fort the previous day, much to the Cat King's surprise.

He found her just leaving King Lune's audience room. She smiled at him—she seemed to be doing that a lot the past few days—and clanked over to where he was.

"Are you going?" he asked, as he gave her a perfunctory nod.

"Later," she chuckled in her weak, raspy voice. The doctors back at Fort Lorum had been astonished at the severity of her wounds and at her survival and rapid healing. They were sure that her being a vampire had something to do with it, though the spear in her heart should have killed her in the pirate lair. "Why are you so intent on kicking me out of here?"

"I'm not. I..." Muta laughed shamefacedly and scratched his pate. "Well, I just want to spend as much time as I can with you while you're here."

"Goodness, I'm not stopping you, am I?" said Loriel, reaching up and linking her arm in his. "Do you have anything to do? I'd like to walk in the gardens," she suggested, reaching into her wine-colored velvet uniform and taking her sunglasses out of an inner pocket and putting them on.

Muta replied that he was free for the moment, and a few minutes later they were in the gardens behind the Cat Castle, where Seiji and Shizuku had also walked, imbibing the heady perfume of countless blooms thriving under the summer sun.

"Loriel... why are you retiring? I think New Lorum still needs you."

"No, I think it's time someone else took up the reins. I might come back if I'm needed, but for now, I'm going to be very busy punishing Phaecis."

"You mean you're going to torture him?" Concurrent with her announcing her retirement was her insistence that the cat monarch turn the Pirate King over to her keeping. Lune had reluctantly agreed, but refused Loriel's suggestion to let Phaecis live at her estate, a small cabin in the woods and parcel of hilly woodland land some distance northeast of New Lorum.

"No, not really. I'm just going to give him a gift." She looked up at Muta and bared her teeth in a wide, sinister smile that, together with the incongruous sight of her sunglass-wearing face, made a cold weight settle about his shoulders. "The gift of eternal unlife, and he'll have all the time in the world to ponder on his past actions, and no one to bully or hurt, because he'll spend his days looking out of a cell. Even if he escapes, he'll be ostracized by everyone he meets, even his fellow criminals. He'll be alone, Renaldo. Really, really alone."

Muta looked aghast at her. "You're cruel."

"I never said I was a good person," the Captain said in a soft voice, as if she was telling him the absolute truth about her and had expected his reaction and was resigned to it. "He deserves it. Look at all the people he and his gang have killed and robbed over the past couple of years. My crew, as well. When I let him go before I thought he'd change, but he didn't. Not in the parts that mattered."

"Are you sure that's wise? You'll be creating someone stronger and bigger than you. And immortal, to boot."

"Oh, Renaldo." Loriel gave his forearm an affectionate pinch. "Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah," snorted Muta. "Like you took care of yourself in the pirate lair."

"He surprised me, and I had to protect you. He won't be able to do that to me again."

Muta plucked a nearby flower as they passed it and gave it to her. "A red globeflower?" She smiled impishly. "Does this mean you love me, Renaldo?"

"W-what? What are you talking about?"

"One gives this to a crush... So red, as red as blood, red as deep, passionate love..."

"W-well, I didn't know that!" Muta stammered. "I just took what I could get. Gimmie that!" He tried to snatch the flower from Loriel's hand, but she easily avoided his swiping paw. She laughed hoarsely.

"I was just kidding! I know you didn't!" She took a sniff of the bell-shaped bloom and threw it up at his face. "You want it back, here!"

Muta caught it and stared as she withdrew her arm from his and began to walk away. Underneath his fur he blushed.

"H-hey! Wait, I didn't mean to—oh, tabbies!" He trotted after her.

------oOo------

"All set?" the Baron asked, stepping back from Toto and scrutinizing his handiwork, namely the small leather pack he had strapped onto the crow's back.

"Yes. Thanks, Baron." The avian turned round. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

The Cat nodded. "I'm sure I will be, in due time." To his chagrin (and the others' astonishment), Louise had had a long talk with him when they had arrived at Fort Lorum and told him she wasn't going to accompany him any further. She said she wanted to look after the members of the Phaecis Gang who were left.

"I've been with them for years," she had said. "Most of them aren't so bad, once you get to know them. I'd like to help them get back on their feet after they've served their sentences."

The flabbergasted cat nobleman had immediately taken her hands in his. "But Louise, if you stay here King Lune might change his mind about not convicting you as well. And I always thought–"

"That I was going to drop everything and come with you and live happily ever after?" she finished for him. "Not likely. I wasn't dead all these years, Humbert. I still lived. I have some things I must take care of, King Lune or no King Lune." She pulled her hands out of his grasp and caressed his cheek. "Don't look so," she said gently. "When the time is right, I'll come to you. Then we can be together and start living again."

The Cat took her hand and kissed it. "And I vow that nothing will interfere with our wedding this time. Nothing."

"Humbert." Louise pulled his face towards hers and gave him a kiss. "You still want to marry damaged goods after all this time?"

"Yes! I'm not so undamaged, myself." The Baron had suddenly found tears threatening to spill from his eyes, and he tugged Louise into his embrace, their first in more than fifty years.

When they had broken away from each other Louise had looked down at her outfit and laughed. "The first thing I need to do," she proclaimed, "is change my clothes!" She poked a finger through the hole in the middle of her jacket. "I look positively indecent!"

"I can have some made for you," the Cat said. "You needn't worry about that."

"Mmm. And I suppose you'll have me looking just as I did before. It's alright, Humbert. I still have a sufficient selection. The Doctor was quite tasteful in his choices." Her finger pressed upon the small hidden vial hanging by its chain around her neck. It contained what was left of the crystal that had housed the evil cat's soul, shattered by the nobleman's sword at the same time he had pierced her heart.

The Baroness pulled her digit out and absent-mindedly smoothed the lapels of her paramour's tuxedo. "We really need to update the cut of your suits, my dearest."

"But I like my clothes just the way they are," the Baron complained. "And I can't have you looking like Haru."

Louise cocked an eye at him. "Why? Is there something wrong with the way she dresses?"

"No, it's just that I don't believe her style would fit you."

Louise mulled over that for a moment, then said, "When you can, I insist on you telling me exactly what you did with her."

The Baron swallowed. "Why?"

"So I can figure out how mad I'm supposed to be with you."

"Louise..."

"No. However on earth you feel about her, there are some things that just shouldn't have been done. Look at what you did to the poor girl. You must make amends for that and help her fix her love life. I'm sorry to tell you this, Humbert, but it's partly because of what you did that I'm not coming with you. I refuse to rebuild our relationship using her bones and the blood of her bleeding heart as brick and mortar. Fix that, and I'll return to you as soon as I can."

_I'll return to you as soon as I can..._ Her last words echoed in his mind as Toto stretched his wings.

"Well, see you in a month or so, Baron."

"Wait, where were you going again?"

The crow sighed. "Ibaraki-ken, to my friend's family, to tell them he's gone. Then to Europe and England, to do the same for my other friends. I also need to see if Sturmvogel has any kin I should inform of his passing."

"Oh. I'm sorry I forgot."

"It's okay, Baron. You and Haru have been looking frazzled lately, a lot more than old lard-belly has."

"That obvious?"

"Yeah."

The Baron slapped the grotesque's side. "Well, take care, friend. I hope you can come back in time for the party."

"I'll try. So long, Baron." Toto took off.

The Cat watched him dwindle into a black dot against the fluffy clouds. He then spun on his heel and made his way down the turret. He needed to talk to Haru. He was sure he knew what was troubling her.

------oOo------

"I-I already told him about us," Haru said in a soft-but-not-so-calm voice. The Cat had found her still in the drawing-room where he had left her and Muta half an hour ago. "H-he's not taking it very well. I asked him to forgive me, but he never answered."

"Haru... damn, I'm so sorry I got you into this!" He rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"It's okay, Baron. I chose to be with you, and I don't regret my decision. I'll just have to try and make him see things from my standpoint." A forlorn look appeared on her face, and an opalescent sheen grew in her eyes. "Somehow."

"Would you like me to talk to him?"

Haru sat up. "No! That would only make things worse."

The Cat stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and joined her in looking out the window. "Jealousy is tough to fight, but I'm sure he'll eventually come around," he tried to reassure her, taking her hand in his and kissing it.

Haru blinked rapidly. "Oh, I really hope you're right."

Of course, that had to be the moment when the wood-paneled door to the tea-room opened, and Kei Machida, accompanied by Moon the black cat (who was now as big as the rest of them), stepped in.

He froze as Haru quickly pulled her hand out of the Baron's. "It's not what you think!" she blurted, her face going pale with fright.

Machida was silent for a heartbeat. "I've got my own eyes, Haru, and I know how to use them, thanks," he said in a flat voice. "So that's why the Baroness didn't return with the rest of us. It's still you two, isn't it?"

"No! No, you're wrong! It isn't—"

"Anyway, I just came to tell you there's a call going out to anyone who wishes to use a portal to our world. Thought I'd just inform you. I'm going to use it."

Haru stood and began to walk to him. "You mean you're leaving?"

"Yeah. It looks like I'm not needed here anyway."

"Kei-chan..."

Before Haru could reach him he turned his back on her and exited the room, leaving Moon to look at her and the Cat in pity before following Machida out the door.

------oOo------

As can be imagined, relations between the young lady and the cat gentleman were also strained by the incident, and Haru spent a restless night in her room, unable to sleep. Von Jikkingen had managed to solve his main problem, but where did that leave her? Not only was she in trouble with Machida, she also had to deal with the things Shizuku-sensei told her, things that threatened to overturn her nice little world and dissolve her sanity.

That night she had a visitor. As she lay tossing and turning in her bed, there came a soft knock at the door. Grumbling, she got up and answered it in a flurry of irritated silk and mussed dark-brown hair.

"Look, it's nearly midnight, and I want to­... Princess Nausicaä?"

The wind-rider, dressed in her own version of sleepwear—a simple baby-blue dress and slippers, with a strange mushroom-shaped, chin-strapped hat faced with jewels sitting on her head—looked apologetically at her. "Hi. Um... could I talk to you for a while?"

_I wonder if she does this to her own people, _Haru wondered. Trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice, she bade her come in.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Haru asked, shutting the door.

"Well, I was just in Grandma Zeniiba's room, listening to her talking and... you know, don't you? Shizuku Amasawa told you?"

"I... yes, she did."

"How do you feel?" To Haru's surprise Nausicaä seemed genuinely concerned.

"I don't know how I want to feel," she replied. "Sometimes I feel very afraid, that I've been living a lie all my life, and if I close my eyes long enough I'll fall over the edge of the world and disappear. Sometimes I think she was still lying to me when she... left. Ojou-sama, I just want her to be alive and well. If not here, then in her own world. But she told me..." Haru's voice trailed away into silence as she recalled Shizuku's words.

In the dim starlight and moonlight of the room, Nausicaä put a hand on the melancholic girl's upper arm. "Come with me," she said. "I'll tell you my own story."

------oOo------

"And that's how I came to meet him. I'm not trying to be boastful or anything, but I'm glad I met him and learned the truth under kinder circumstances than you did." Standing there in the darkness of the parapet, Haru watched the girl from the Valley of Wind's eyes shine as she looked out at the nocturnal fastness of the surrounding Cat Kingdom. "I had no idea where I was, or what I was doing over Tokyo, of all places, but I needn't have worried. I was heading towards him all along."

Haru looked at her bright eyes and shy smile. "You look like a girl who's just had her first boyfriend proclaim his love to her."

A small grin escaped Nausicaä's lips. She smothered it. "What can I say? I knew from the first that I loved him. You shouldn't be afraid. Shizuku-san gave you life, and it's beyond her power to take it away from you. In fact, she's the one who needs help now." Seeing that her words had scant effect on Haru, Nausicaä laid a hand on her back and continued to try and reassure her.

"Haru," she said earnestly, "she only set the wheels in motion. Your world now runs under the stars, just as her own does. Your world is as real as hers is, only a vast expanse of time and space and... emotion separates it from your own. She cares for you. Don't ever doubt that."

"She... she did say that she put a lot of herself into me... oh, sensei..." The young woman looked down at the cool white-painted stone she was leaning on. "I-I still don't know what to think. It's all so overwhelming... but thanks for talking to me about it."

"Glad to help. Haru, with the intertwining of your lives you'll never look at the world the same way again, but that doesn't mean the change has to be bad." A breeze made Nausicaä's headcovering balloon slightly to the side; it swirled around Haru, toyed with her hair, spoke to her of the faraway lands the Princess and the others had come from. Never in her lifetime would the only daughter of Naoko Yoshioka have thought about meeting them, of there being times and places beyond even the magical Cat Kingdom itself. It comforted her greatly to know she had friends—for so she knew them to be, now—existing even beyond the walls of the universe and the cosmic clock that governed it.

"_Hime-sama,_ how did you get back to your own world?"

The quietly happy expression disappeared from Nausicaä's face. "That's a longer and more tragic story. If I were to tell you that, we'd still be standing here when the dawn came. All I'll say," she said in her soft voice, "is that nothing—and no one—is forever. Not us, and not our... parents and loved ones, so we should cherish them while we still can. A bride-to-be named Chihiro Ogino once told me that, long ago."

------oOo------

The Princess accompanied Haru back to her room and gave her a cheery 'good-night' before she closed the door. As she made her way down the corridors to her own room, she reflected that not even Shizuku herself, as she had found out from Zeniiba, knew the complete truth. It was just as well, she decided. Haru could barely seem to handle what she already knew. There would be time enough later to tell them both. That is, if she and Haku could make their way into the fortress of the absent writer's spirit.

And Angel... how she wished she could see her again. All she wanted to do was ask the wingéd girl about her future. But every time the opportunity presented itself, Angel either dodged her words or opted to vanish into the sky, never giving up the answers the Child of the Wind sought.

_One of these days, Angel,_ she had vowed the last time the mysterious girl had escaped from her, _I'm going to catch you and make you tell me what I want to know. Who are you? Where do you come from? Why do you keep on saving me, when all seems so lost and hopeless?_

She opened the door to her room and found her roommate sitting up in a long-armed rocking chair, reading a book from one of the libraries downstairs.

"Where were you?" asked Kushana, again dressed in a white shift, all set to go to sleep. A cup of something steaming was on the small round table beside her chair. "I was beginning to think you'd snuck off and left us behind again." Of all the people from their world who had come to the island in response to the plea for help, only she, Nausicaä, Asbel, Selm, Charuka and Chikuku were left. The wind-rider had told her to send the Royal Corvette and its unbelieving men back to Torumekia, and she acquiesced, putting Kurotowa in charge of them.

"Just fly into the brightest cloud you see," Nausicaä had told Setoru, who in the intervening years since the Dorok-Torumekian war had decided that it was much safer being an aviator rather than an infantryman and accordingly changed professions. He also happened to be the copilot of the huge bi-winged craft. "You'll end up in our world. Trust me." The Corvette did just that and was never seen any more, so Nausicaä and everyone with her assumed it had successfully crossed back into their world.

Nausicaä's companions were amazed at the flying craft's disappearance, asking her how such a thing could be possible. All she answered was, "That was how I left our world." To her sorrow, Asbel had decided the accompany the Torumekians home, probably to keep himself away from Kushana and reduce the tensions everyone felt when the two were in the vicinity of each other. The Gunship he had left in a shed near where Howl's humungous winged castle had set down, a dark, smoking, creaking contraption almost as big as the Cat King's palace.

Nausicaä walked over to her bed and sat down on it. "I just had a talk with Haru Yoshioka," she answered the Queen-Regent. "Like you, she refuses to believe in what she's found."

"What? Oh, no, I'm beginning to believe that there's truth to what you've been saying. But I still want to see it with my own two eyes."

The wind-rider lay down on the soft mattress. "Tomorrow, then, if you're still up to it: I'll show you briefly where I had gone. Good night."

"Good night." Nausicaä pulled the covers over herself, while the White Witch of Torumekia continued her reading.

------oOo------

The two ladies weren't the only ones up that night. In the Cat King's bedroom Yuki was also awake, leaning against Lune, who was hugging her.

"It's not funny! I was so worried about you," she protested.

"There, there," the King said, "I didn't mean anything by that comment. I'm fine. I was rescued, so you shouldn't cry any more, Yuki." Endeavoring to change the subject, he commented, "I'm just glad that you're okay, after what my father did. I'll talk to him about that."

"Don't be angry at him, darling," Yuki pleaded, sniffling. "It was my idea to use myself and Shoukichi as bait for Phaecis' spies."

"What?"

"Well, we couldn't live in peace with them still around, could we? So we talked about it and eventually hatched our plan. Shoukichi called on a few of his folk to help us, and _voila!_ We managed to capture them without any bloodshed."

Lune pondered over the revelation. "You know, I shall have to stay at home more now."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Who knows, you might get it into your head to take over my kingdom next, wife of mine."

"Lune! That's very mean of you."

The Cat King guffawed. "Just joking." He swept Yuki up in his arms and carried her to bed.

------oOo------

The Lady Eboshi watched as two of her warrior women chorused a sugary greeting to the good-looking wizard in the ruffled white shirt and fitting black pants as he passed by them in the corridor. He smiled at them and returned their greeting, then went on his way.

"Isn't he handsome?" gushed one as soon as he was out of earshot, clapping her palms to her cheeks and closing her eyes.

"He sure is!" sighed the other, casting a furtive glance at the retreating, oh-so-delectable backside. "Much better for a roll in the hay with than my no-account husband."

"Toki, Usemi," said the Mistress of Irontown in a mildly scolding tone of voice, "I wouldn't fall for him if I were you. From what little I know of him, he's just as liable to tear your heart out of your chest and eat it, as love it."

The woman with the black hair bound up under a net and wearing the red-and-blue lamellar armor blanched. "Really? As in chomp, chomp—" she mimed tearing a piece of meat to pieces "—eat it?"

"That's what I heard."

The two women of Tatara-ba looked at each other for a moment.

"Think he'd go out with us?" Toki asked her companion.

"I wouldn't know. Gosh, Lady Eboshi, please teach us how to act like court ladies, so we can approach him."

"Aw, who needs that?" Toki drawled glibly. "I'll just tell him straight out myself."

"Hmph. You really think he'd like to be with a smelly and rough-mannered woman such as you?"

"Hey! I am _not_ smelly!"

Shaking her head and smiling, their one-armed leader turned her back on them and walked away. She had to admit Howl was very handsome, and had very beguiling manners. Maybe she'd have a go at him before she left for their world, as Ashitaka and San and those wolves of hers had already done. It had been a very, very long time since she had the company of a man.

------oOo------

Shiho Amasawa rolled over in bed and managed to disturb Youji. He groaned and opened his eyes.

"_Anata,_ you're still awake?"

The black-haired older sister of Shizuku gave him a nod and a sad puppy-dog look. "I was just thinking about imouto-chan and your little brother. I'm very worried about them."

Youji sleepily put an arm around her. "Hey, the Baron said he'd find them, didn't he? Don't fret. Try and get some shut-eye, that's a good girl." Youji gave her a peck on the cheek and cuddled her closer.

Shiho sighed, closed her eyes, and tried once more to go to sleep. The crickets were loud in the night, outside Chikyuuya.

------oOo------

After the three days Seiji still insisted on keeping his vigil near Shizuku. Zeniiba was beginning to regret that she had ever given him hope that she would return. He was hollow-eyed and disheveled, and had to be reminded to do simple things, like eat and bathe and even sleep. Most of the time he just sat in his chair, thinking of who-knew-what.

Howl came up to the kinder twin that night as she stood at the room's periphery, watching the young man slowly destroying himself with his grief.

"I cannot find any trace of the Shizuku Haru's world had," he reported. "It's as you say: when the real Shizuku came into it she subsumed the other one and took her place. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to separate them."

Zeniiba grunted. Sometimes she wished she could transfer this burden she had taken up onto another person's shoulders, but there was no one who could possibly handle it. Howl was too young and impetuous, Madam Suliman was too dangerous a person to ask for help from, the Witch of the Waste was useless, and greedy Yu-baaba had abandoned her for the moment and flown back to Aburaya, to check on the bathhouse and her son Bou. Rin the fox-spirit had gone back with her, and Haku had taken Chihiro home, so for the present she was with no one save Kaonashi, who chose to spend his time silently caring for the mourning young man, at the advice of Mrs. Kusakabe, who left immediately via Nekobus for the Cat Bureau and then her 1950s abode after the meeting in the pirate lair.

"We must also find a way to deal with this Seiji," she told Howl, holding up the small red-leather book with clasp she had been reading. It was Shizuku's journal. "Even though I've read her entries, I still can't determine where reality stopped and story began!"

"Here, let me have a look at that. I have some experience such things." Howl took the book from her and opened it. The frontispiece was a beautifully written 'Scarlet Diary' in gold script above 'Shizuku Tsukishima' in black calligraphic jinmei kanji.

"I know that. That's why I wanted your help."

The wizard skimmed the pages for two minutes or so, then said, "I can't either. Could I borrow this, so I can look at it more closely?"

Zeniiba nodded. "Oh, the troubles that woman caused! Why couldn't she just have gone in peace?"

Howl frowned. He had come across exuberant passages in his perusal of the book, thoughts and words full of life and love and longing, and statements which seemed like hints to the tragic secret Shizuku had been hiding. The old witch's annoyance made him feel both sad and irritated.

"Zeniiba, if you had found a way to remain alive, after a fashion, and put off death for a little while, wouldn't you take it?"

"I wouldn't. Everything has its season, and everything has its end."

Howl paused and examined her as he twirled the journal upright in his hand and made it disappear with a sparkling flash. "You know, you and your sister are more alike than you think."

------oOo------

"Lusheeta, please! I don't understand why you're so cross with me!"

"Ooh... for the last time, Pazu, I didn't like the way you volunteered to help those two old women look for their spell ingredients so quickly. Maybe you want to stick around because you've got your eye on one of the other girls, hmm? Who is it? Nausicaä? Kushana? Eboshi? One of her fighters? That Haru girl? Or—heaven forbid—Sophie Hatter?"

"Hey! I'm no wolf! And I don't like women who can't stand a little dust and grime–"

"Are you implying that I­–"

"I mean you don't get on my case if I come home dirty from a mining job. Besides, Howl would probably kill me if he found out I was going after his girlfriend!"

"We should've done what Auntie Dora did and gone home."

"I don't know... I kind of like the sight of you wearing those jewels. I don't think I want to sell them, like she's going to."

"Faugh! Pazu, I'd rather you sell them, so I won't have to see you working so hard out in the fields."

"Sheeta... I could say the same to you, you know."

"Pazu..."

"Hey, why're you crying? C'mere, let me wipe those... '"Do you love me, John?" she asked.'"

"Not that silly opera again!"

"Well, it got you to smile, didn't it? I figure it's been too long since we've last had something like that. '"You know I love you, darling," he replied. "I love you more than song can tell. You are the light of my life: my sun, moon, and stars. You are my everything. Without you, I have no reason for being." And then, there was silence, as two lovers sat on a park bench, their bodies touching, holding hands in the moonlight. Once more, she spoke.'"

"Heehee... '"How much do you love me, John?" she asked.'"

"'"How much do I love you? Count the stars in the sky; measure the waters of the oceans with a teaspoon; number the grains of sand on the seashore; impossible, you say?"'"

"Ghhrrrk. That was terrible."

"It wasn't terrible... Sheeta?"

"Hmm?"

"I'll tell Zeniiba I've changed my mind."

"No, don't. I'll come with you instead."

"Huh. Okay, if that's what you want. Now snuggle up against me and sleep in my arms."

"That's so sweet of you—"

"Because you're pulling the bedsheet over to your side all the time."

"Pazu!"

"Ow!"

------oOo------

The woman sat at the water's edge, staring at the weak yellow ball that was her sun, sinking into oblivion at another day's end. She barely knew her own identity: much of her knowledge, her self, had been burned away by her fight with that horrid old woman, who had tried to capture her. She didn't know where this place was, or what she was doing here. All she knew was that she was safe. No one could ever hurt her while she stayed here. And, in return, she could never visit harm on anyone else. She had the hazy idea that she'd done a bad thing, but the particulars escaped her every time she tried to focus on them, fish skittering away from the net of her mind.

In the dreams she was having since she got here—whether it was yesterday, or an eternity ago, she couldn't recall—she dimly remembered missing someone, a man whose name she didn't know. All she knew was that he played a violin. And the image of a boy-child also played in her dream-mind, and whenever she saw it her heart seemed to echo with distant pain.

She spent her days by the seaside, trying to figure things out—who the man was, and why the sight of the child should make her feel so sad. Yet always, always, the truth seemed to hover just beyond her reach.

She sighed. There would be another sunrise, and she could spend all her time doing this again tomorrow. Standing up, she looked one last time at the vast mountains surrounding her island in the middle of its lake, before turning and heading for the giant closed lotus bud that she now called her home.


	30. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

The phone rang early that Sunday, and Mrs. Yoshioka, typing on her laptop in her room, was quick to descend the stairs and answer it.

"Hello?"

"Mom . . . hi."

"Haru?" Her voice rose. "Where are you?"

"I'm . . . well, I'm sort of . . . oh, Mom! I'm coming home, but could you wait? It's going to take me a while to get from where I am to there."

"What?"

"I'm in Kochi City, on Shikoku."

"_What? _How'd you get there? I thought Kei was with you."

"He and I had a disagreement, and we went our separate ways."

"You..." Mrs. Yoshioka heaved a sigh. "You're very late for school, you know."

"I know." There was a long pause. "I'm sorry I made you worry. I'm not trying to talk my way out . . . out of this, you know. You've been so patient with me always, mom, and I'm really, really sorry for all I've caused--"

Mrs. Yoshioka's grip on the phone tightened. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'll . . . I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I understand. Haru?"

"Hmm?"

"Love you too, dear. Hurry home."

"Mom . . . if you see Kei please tell him I want to talk to him. And there's someone here who wants to talk to you. I'll turn you over to him now."

There was a rustling sound, and a new voice came over the line. "Hello? This is Taku Morisaki. You don't know me, but Haru's staying at my house for now. I'll accompany her to Tokyo in a day or two, have no fear."

"You will? Oh, thank you, Morisaki-san. Could I have your number, just in case? The caller ID's not working."

They spoke for a few minutes. Haru listened, then piped up when Morisaki put the phone down.

"Really? You'd do that for me? I thought you weren't going to leave until next week. You don't have to change your schedule on my account."

"Oh, what does a few days matter, Haru-san?" The man with the affable, slightly rounded face and short black hair smiled at her. "I guess Rikako can stand the shock of seeing me a bit early."

Haru bowed. "I'm so sorry for imposing on you. I promise I'll pay you back. Thank you very much for taking care of me."

"It's no big deal. Don't rush to pay me back, okay? I know what it's like to be a working student."

Prompted by Taku, Haru sat down on the overstuffed blue couch in his living room. "Morisaki-san, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but why are you being so helpful to me?"

"Oh, I don't know. I guess your being in trouble reminds me of her." _After all these years I can still remember when she asked me to lend her some money. What a Hawaiian Suspense _that _was._

"Really?"

"Yeah." His lips curled in a small smile. "Besides, it'd be rude not to help a nice young lady such as yourself." He held up the engraved silver invitation that had been given to him long before. "You're lucky you weren't hurt by your fall."

Haru smiled sheepishly at him, conscious of her aching behind. She had fallen from the sky and landed in Morisaki-san's front yard some hours earlier, where he had found her sprawled on her backside. It was a good thing she was in jeans again, thanks to Moon and Luna's forethought in bringing her bag along (which they had appropriated from her room—Haru's mother and Machida had thought she had surreptitiously come back for it when it was actually the two cats who did the deed one night, branding themselves 'successful cat burglars' after the event). Not knowing how much he knew about the Baron and everyone else, she had opted to keep as quiet about them as she could, but seemed to detect a certain mirthful knowing in the words Morisaki-san spoke and the little glances he gave her. She strongly felt he already knew. Everything.

_When I get my hands on you, Cameron,_ she thought as the older man continued to converse with her,_ I'm going to strangle you. If Zeniiba and Howl's magics were interfering with your own, you should've just moved me away from the room before opening that stupid portal. Oh, why do these things keep happening to me? I wonder if Nausicaä and her friends are in Tokyo right now. If they ended up somewhere other than Harajuku, like I suggested... _

------oOo------

"I thought you said the air was poisonous to us," Kushana reminded Nausicaä as they made their way through the teeming street crowds near Yoyogi Park on that sunny weekend day.

"It won't affect us if we keep our stay very, very short," the other explained. Shaking off the momentary gloom her friend's statement brought, she giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing. I never thought I'd see you in a dress like that. You're quite beautiful in it, you know."

"Really?" Kushana looked down at the full-skirted, high-necked and long-sleeved dress Queen Yuki's seamstresses had provided for her. In addition to it she had a flower-bedecked ladies' hat on her head, white gloves, and brown boots with heels. She couldn't see what Nausicaä was talking about; they had formalwear like this, nothing extraordinary about it, only they wore them on rare occasions. "Thank you."

"Uh, Nausicaä?" It was Selm, who had managed to remain serious all the way from their world, to the Cat Kingdom, to this one. Instead of his characteristic Forest People garb, or the usual exposure suit one saw him in, he was dressed in a pale cream-yellow trouser suit and derby, one that Nausicaä and Kushana secretly agreed made him look very handsome. "Do you have any idea at all where we are now?"

She lifted the street map they had obtained from a nearby place called a 'tourist information office.' "We're . . . here, I think," she said, jabbing at it with her index finger.

"What's that tall tower over there?" Selm asked.

"I think they call it Tokyo Tower."

"Oh."

"Excellency, is something wrong?" Kushana addressed the boy walking beside her.

Chikuku's face was pale. "So many strange people . . . so many strange thoughts . . . ."

Charuka, who was walking beside him, immediately asked, "Would you like us to leave?" The Council of Priests had put Chikuku under his charge; he was very important to them, and Charuka had vowed when they left that no harm would come to the one who would eventually become Emperor. Especially not on what was supposed to be a straightforward jaunt to the place where the Blue-Clad One had claimed–

"Chikuku is fine . . . he doesn't want to spoil Nausicaä's outing." He looked up from under his cap and smiled brightly at Charuka, who regarded him with his usual mixture of respect and skepticism.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. There's only one thing."

"What's that?"

"Why are all the people around us looking at us in so strange a way?"

"We must be doing something wrong," said Selm, tugging at the sleeves of his coat.

"I can't understand it," Nausicaä said, puzzlement in her voice. "The people in this time are so free and diverse in their clothing, I can't see what we could be doing that would attract their attention." She self-consciously adjusted the wide-brimmed summer hat on her head.

Old Charuka—who himself was wearing a boater to cover his bald head, a very uncomfortable pinstriped gray suit with string tie, light-gray trousers, patent-leather shoes, and toted a cane because his joints were acting up again—had been looking hard for the last half-hour at the getups the people around them (mostly young women) were wearing, and comparing them to what he had seen in the library in the Cat King's Castle. He chuckled.

"Nausicaä, I don't think that Howl and Sophie were the right people to ask for 'period clothing' . . . ."

HERE ENDS  
THE CAT REQUESTS A FAVOUR.  
SHIZUKU AND HARU'S EVENTUAL FATES  
ARE TOLD IN ANOTHER STORY.

* * *

**Author's Postscript:** It's over, for now. I started in July, and it's now November—I'm glad I didn't join National Novel Writing Month.

Taku Morisaki is, of course, from _Umi ga Kikoeru._ I based his portrayal entirely from the Ghibli film and haven't read any of the novels, either _Umi_ or its sequel _Ai ga Arukara,_ so—instant need for revising in the future as well! Why do I keep doing this to myself?

To those who persevered and read this from start to finish, or even just dropped in and browsed, I hope you enjoyed it. Comments on grammar, plot, characterization, etc., are especially welcome, considering that one of the main reasons I write this malarky is to try and improve.


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